INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps have been taken to encourage Afghan farmers to move from growing poppies to other food crops.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID is supporting organisations that are working in a number of poppy growing provinces across Afghanistan, including Badakhshan, Kandahar and Helmand. These organisations, including the Aga Khan Foundation and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, are working with farmers to help them identify and try a range of legal crops, providing seeds, fertilizer and tools. However, crops alone are not the only way to help those involved in opium poppy farming to earn a legal income. These projects also work to identify and help with non-crop and off-farm opportunities, including help with animal rearing, improving animal welfare, and training in crafts such as tailoring.

Afghanistan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan on the possibility of helping with their funding.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: None.

China

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid his Department has (a) pledged and (b) distributed to China since 1999.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID does not make specific pledges of expenditure for country programmes. Since the Financial Year of 1999–2000, DFID has distributed £162,948,000 for development assistance in China. Further information and a breakdown by financial years is available in DFID's Statistics for International Development 2004 (Table 7.3). This is available on-line on the DFID website: http://www.dfid.gov.uk and will soon be available in the Library of the House.

Commission for Africa

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the budget is of the Government's Africa Commission; which Department oversees the budget; and what the criteria are governing expenditure.

Hilary Benn: The budget for the Commission for Africa is £5.9 million. This is met and overseen by the Department for International Development (DFID). It covers the cost of the Commissioners' travel on Commission business; the cost of Commission meetings; the cost of consultation and of analytical work in preparation of the Commission's report; and the cost of the Commission's Secretariat. All expenditures are made in line with the objectives and priorities of the Commission.

Consultants

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many consultancy firms or companies have been retained by the Department since June 2001; what the projects are for which each has been retained; and what the total is of the fees paid or incurred in each case.

Hilary Benn: The following table gives the number of consultancy companies and of individual consultants awarded DFID contracts in each of the last three years, together with the value of contracts awarded. The purposes of contracts are set out in the list of 'Contracts Issued 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2004', which has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	
		
			  Number of consultancy companies awarded contracts Number of individual consultants awarded contracts Total value of contracts awarded (£ million) 
		
		
			 2001–02 338 176 282 
			 2002–03 276 131 262 
			 2003–04 245 123 228 
		
	
	These figures do not include lower value contracts issued by DFID's overseas offices, details of which cannot be provided without incurring a disproportionate cost.

Mobile Phones

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many mobile phones were used by (a) Ministers and special advisers and (b) officials in his Department in each year since 1997; how many were (i) lost and (ii) stolen; and what their cost was.

Hilary Benn: Over the last two years, the number of mobile phones in use in the UK, and their costs (including equipment, call charges and access charges) are as follows:
	
		
			   (£000) 
		
		
			 2003–04 230 89,500 
			 2004–05 to date: 434 92,800 
		
	
	These figures include the two mobile phones for Ministers and two for the Special Advisers.
	Mobile phones were not managed under a central contract prior to this period, and therefore information for earlier years (and information on mobile phones in overseas offices) is not readily available and could not be provided without incurring a disproportionate cost.
	The total number of mobile phones lost or stolen since 1997 is 28.

New Deal

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many personnel the Department has recruited under the New Deal in each of the past five years.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 25 October 2004. Official Report column 1052W.

Press Releases

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many press releases have been issued by his Department in each month of 2004; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The number of press releases issued each month by DFID Press Office in London in 2004 is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 January 10 
			 February 6 
			 March 13 
			 April 12 
			 May 10 
			 June 8 
			 July 16 
			 August 6 
			 September 11 
			 October 10 
			 Total 102

Special Advisers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many unpaid special advisers the Department has; what their names are; and which Government (a) bodies, (b) committees and (c) strategy groups each unpaid adviser (i) belongs to, (ii) advises and (iii) works alongside.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 28 October 2004, Official Report, columns 1380–470W.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

European Travel Allowance

Graham Allen: To ask the Leader of the House what use hon. and right hon. Members have made of their facility to visit European institutions in each of the years for which figures are available; and what his policy is on encouraging hon. and right hon. Members to make fuller use of the provision.

Phil Woolas: During 2003–04 200 hon. Members claimed against the European travel allowance for a total of 272 journeys to European institutions and agencies and the Parliaments of EFTA countries, EU member countries, candidate and applicant countries. 50 Members made two visits each and 11 made three visits each. For information about earlier years I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House on 15 July 2003, Official Report, column 189W, and on 1 September 2003, Official Report, column 709W.
	My right hon. Friend the Leader of the House has invited the Modernisation Committee to consider the operation of this scheme, as part of its inquiry into the Scrutiny of European Business, and in particular whether it would be practicable within the existing budget to enable those Members who have regular and valuable contact through approved visits to do so more than three times.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Domestic Violence

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General what guidance has been given on the level of evidence needed to bring a successful prosecution for offences of domestic violence.

Harriet Harman: The Code for Crown Prosecutors requires prosecutors in all cases to be satisfied that there is a realistic prospect of conviction and that it is in the public interest to prosecute. There is also CPS Policy and Guidance on prosecuting cases of domestic violence. Both documents make reference to the standard of evidence needed for successful prosecutions. The Code for Crown Prosecutors and the Policy and Guidance on Domestic Violence are currently being revised to reflect recent legislative and procedural changes and are due to be published soon.

New Deal

Julian Lewis: To ask the Solicitor-General how many personnel the Department has recruited under the New Deal in each of the past five years.

Harriet Harman: holding answer given 26 October 2004
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office on 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1052W.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Magpies

Alan Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effects of magpies on the populations of song-birds in urban areas and the fringes of urban areas.

Ben Bradshaw: The Magpie is known to take songbirds although the available evidence suggests that this does not have a significant adverse effect on their population levels. Defra issues a general licence allowing year round control of Magpies, and a small number of other species, to conserve wild birds. This licence may be used by authorised persons only and the landowner's permission must be obtained. This licence is among a number of general licences relating to birds that is currently the subject of a consultation exercise.
	There is no evidence to suggest that Magpies or birds of prey have played a major role in the declines of songbirds. The population status of songbird and farmland bird species is monitored and Defra is aware of declines in certain species.
	By contrast a Mammal Society survey suggests that 275 million wild animals (including birds) are killed each year by Britain's estimated 8 million cats.

Public Perception Survey

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what surveys of public perceptions of her Department and of its areas of responsibility have taken place over the last 12 months; what the (a) title and (b) nature of these surveys was; what the findings of each survey were; where these findings have been published; what the cost of such surveys was; and if she will make a statement and place copies of the surveys in the Library;
	(2)  when she will reply to question 176951, tabled on 7 June, on surveys of public perceptions of her role.

Alun Michael: In April 2004 the Communications Directorate of Defra commissioned an omnibus tracking survey to measure public awareness of Defra, knowledge of its responsibilities and opinions on its performance.
	The aim of the research was to provide a benchmark from which to track subsequent shifts in public awareness and opinion. The results will act as point of reference from which views on the Department's performance in the public arena and will help to identify where improvements need to be made.
	I am placing a copy of the research in the Library of the House. The total cost of the omnibus tracking survey was £14,950 (excluding VAT). I apologise for the delay in answering these questions.

Supermarket Code of Practice

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the impact on farmers of the Supermarkets Code of Practice.

Alun Michael: The supermarkets Code of Practice seeks to regulate a limited number of practices engaged in by the major supermarkets in their dealings with their direct suppliers, relatively few of whom are farmers.
	Responsibility for the Code rests with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). In February OFT published a report of their review of the operation of the code. This can be found on their website at www.oft.gov.uk/news/press+releases/2004.htm.
	The review concluded that there was a widespread belief among suppliers that the Code was not working properly, but it found no hard evidence for this belief. Given the reluctance of suppliers to provide specific evidence of alleged breaches of the Code, the OFT has commissioned a focused audit of the four supermarkets bound by the Code. The purpose of the audit is to establish hard facts about compliance with the Code as a basis for any further action. The OFT hopes to publish a report of the audit by the end of the year.

Warm Front Programme

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many leaflets have been produced and sent this year relating to the Warm Front programme; and what the cost of this exercise has been;
	(2)  what criteria were used in deciding to which addresses leaflets relating to the Warm Front programme grants should be sent;
	(3)  how many leaflets relating to the Warm Front programme she estimates have been delivered to addresses which (a) do and (b) do not qualify for grant status in 2004.

Elliot Morley: The Warm Front scheme managers, Powergen Warm Front Ltd. and Eaga Partnership are responsible for all marketing to promote the scheme.
	A range of marketing techniques are used to reach those who may be eligible for assistance. This includes direct marketing, local and national campaigns and advertising through leaflets in various facilities such as doctors surgeries, libraries and community centres. The Scheme Managers also use range of techniques to target those areas likely to contain a higher proportion of eligible households. The success rate of the various marketing strategies are monitored by the Scheme Managers to assess their impact.
	Detailed information on the delivery of these activities is commercially sensitive.

WALES

Consultants

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many consultancy firms or companies have been retained by the Department since June 2001; what the projects are for which each has been retained; and what the total is of the fees paid or incurred in each case.

Don Touhig: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Secretary of State for Wales on 12 March 2003, Official Report, column 129W.
	Since the beginning of financial year 2004–05 the Wales Office have used only one consultant firm to provide floor plans, at a cost of £569.

Ministers' Private Offices

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the running costs of Ministers' private offices in his Department have been in each year since 1997.

Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my predecessor gave on 15 April 2002, Official Report, column 750W.
	The Wales Office annual report was published in April 2004 as Cm 6228, instead of a departmental report. It is available in the Library and gives information on Wales Office running costs.

Press Officers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many press officers the Department has employed in each of the past five years.

Don Touhig: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 3 June 2003, Official Report, column 314.

TRANSPORT

Air Cargo

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what volume of cargo arriving at each British airport has been (a) inspected and (b) searched in each year since 2001;
	(2)  how many staff have been employed to inspect and search air cargo at each airport in each year since 2001.

Charlotte Atkins: Responsibility for the security of cargo flown to UK airports from outside the country rests with the relevant authorities in the country of export. Cargo that is to be carried on any commercial flight originating in the UK, whether being flown to a domestic destination or internationally, must be screened to a standard sufficient to ensure that it is safe. The screening processes can be carried out either by the airline, or by a regulated agent in the vicinity of the airport, or by exporters whose security arrangements have been approved by DfT-accredited independent validators.
	The Department carries out regular visits to cargo agents and airlines to monitor compliance with the regulations.

Air Navigation Services

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to change the basis for charging airlines for air navigation services; and if he will make a statement.

Charlotte Atkins: The Single European Sky (SES) regulations, which came into force on the 20 April 2004, require the development of a common charging scheme for the recovery of the costs of air navigation services provided to airlines and other airspace users. An implementing rule to specify the details of the new charging scheme is under development by the European Commission but has not yet been finalised.

Airport Security

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on security inspections undertaken at British airports.

Charlotte Atkins: The Department carries out an extensive programme of aviation security compliance monitoring activity. This includes announced and unannounced inspections and tests of the security procedures implemented by industry at our direction. We seek corrective action from industry where necessary.

Commercial Cargoes

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers he can seek to exercise with EU agreement to prevent the transportation of commercial cargoes within EU waters.

David Jamieson: EU waters do not exist, as the territorial waters adjacent to the European coast belong to the states concerned.

Cycling

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of people in the UK who used a pedal cycle at least once a week in the last period for which figures are available.

Charlotte Atkins: It is estimated from the National Travel Survey for 2003 that 8 million residents of Great Britain aged 5 and over (14 per cent.) used a bicycle at least once a week.

Gatwick Express

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his plans for the Gatwick Express franchise.

Alistair Darling: The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) is consulting on the Brighton Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy, which includes possible changes to non-stop London Victoria to Gatwick airport services. The current Gatwick Express franchise runs until 2011 and any change would be subject to commercial negotiation between the National Express Group and the SRA.

M6 Toll Expressway

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many representations he has received in response to his consultation on a proposed toll M6 Expressway.

David Jamieson: As from the closing date of responses for the M6 Expressway consultation, we had received approximately 5,260 responses as well as a number of petitions that amount to around 3,000 signatures.

Mark 1 Trains

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to ensure that all Mark 1 slam door trains from the South of England rail network are withdrawn from service by 30 November 2005.

Tony McNulty: The revised deadline recently set by the Health and Safety Executive for the withdrawal of Mark 1 and vehicles from passenger service is 30 November 2005. In fact, we expect all Mark 1s to have been taken out of service ahead of that deadline.

Mark 1 Trains

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has caused the delay in the withdrawal of the Mark 1 slam door trains from the South of England rail network.

Alistair Darling: Power supplies to the south-of-the-Thames network are being upgraded to cater for new rolling stock, which draws more power than the Mark 1 trains it is replacing. The power upgrade project was not handled well by Railtrack but the Strategic Rail Authority and Network Rail now have a firm grip on it. We expect it to be complete in good time to allow all Mark 1s to be removed from passenger service ahead of the deadline of November 2005 set by the Health and Safety Executive.

Motorcycle Direct Access Scheme

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for the future of the Motorcycle Direct Access Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The Advisory Group on Motorcycling (AGM), which submitted its report to Government on 2 August, commented that since the majority of novice riders choose to pass their test via the Direct Access route, as a relatively fast route to big bike riding, it is timely for Government to consider a range of issues in reviewing its effectiveness. It also recommended that the Government seek to negotiate a third EC licensing Directive to retain UK subsidiarity, in so far as possible, over training and testing arrangements, and especially with respect to Direct Access. A copy of the report is lodged with the House.
	The AGM conducted a five-year programme of work and its report includes wide-ranging suggestions and recommendations for the future of motorcycling. The future of Direct Access is just one of a range of issues on training and testing discussed by the AGM. We are reviewing these carefully in drawing up a national motorcycling strategy that we are aiming to have developed by the end of the year. Should that review lead to proposals for change, we would consult before implementing them. Our review will need to take account of the third licensing Directive. The Commission's proposals do include arrangements which member states will have to abide by on testing to gain a licence to ride a motorcycle. But we aim to achieve a Directive which furthers the interests of road safety in the UK, and allows maximum latitude for us, and other member states, to tailor future testing arrangements to suit our own needs, and especially in respect of Direct Access.

Night Flights

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance the Government have given to the British Airports Authority on the membership of the BAA Consultative Committee on night flights; and if he will make a statement.

Charlotte Atkins: Separate consultative committees exist at BAA (and other) airports to discuss various matters relating to the management of each airport, including (but not limited to) environmental issues such as night flights. The Department issued revised non-statutory guidance on the constitution and operation of airport consultative committees in December 2003. This may be viewed on and downloaded from the Department's website:
	www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_aviation/documents/page/dft_ aviation_026254.hsp

Night Flights

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has undertaken into the effects of sleep deprivation in the context of night flights.

Charlotte Atkins: There is no unique technical definition of sleep 'deprivation' but it is generally taken to mean substantial periods of reduced sleep duration over one or more nights. It is distinct from sleep 'disturbance' which is also variously defined, but in general can encompass both transient arousals from sleep, and longer-lasting awakenings.
	The principal UK Government research in this area was the Report of a Field Study of Aircraft Noise and Sleep Disturbance, published by the then Department of Transport in December 1992. This study, which followed earlier work based mainly on social surveys, focused mainly on objective disturbance to sleep rather than overall sleep deprivation, but was nevertheless able to conclude that:
	Aircraft noise itself is most unlikely to increase sleep disturbance rates to the point at which after-effects upon health or performance would be noticeable (p35)
	A smaller-scale methodology trial was conducted for the Department in 1999 by ISVR 1 Southampton and others (Aircraft Noise and Sleep-1999 UK Trial Methodology Studyhttp://www.isvr.co.uk/environm/sleep.htm). This included laboratory as well as field investigation.
	A review of research in this area was published on behalf of the then DETR in 2000 (Adverse effects of night-time aircraft noise, NATS/DORA 2 RD Report 9964). This discussed potential deprivation effects including reduction in total sleep duration, reduction in slow-wave sleep and sleep-fragmentation, and consequential next-day effects; but was again unable to determine that such phenomena occurred to any significant extent due to aircraft noise, although it noted that:
	 . . . Nevertheless, the possibility of noise-induced sleep loss cannot be ruled out in the case of especially sensitive people. (p9, para 2.26)
	A summary of Government-sponsored research into aircraft noise and sleep disturbance is available on the DfT website:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_aviation/documents/page/dft_aviation_503578.hcsp
	1 Institute of Sound and Vibration Research.
	2 National Air Traffic Services/Department of Operational Research and Analysis. The relevant division is now the Environment Research and Consultancy Department of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA/ERCD).

Pedestrian Crossings

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost of the Highways Agency's new specifications for upgrading puffin pedestrian crossings; and what the reasons are for the upgrading.

David Jamieson: My Department estimates the additional cost of installing a new Puffin crossing compared with a new Pelican crossing to be approximately 2,500. This is due to additional items of equipment required for the crossing operation. The cost of converting an existing Pelican crossing to a Puffin crossing may be higher depending on local factors, and often equipment upgrades and other improvements are made at the same time. Local authorities are not obliged to change to Puffin crossings.
	The Puffin crossing was developed in response to complaints arising from poor understanding and use of Pelican crossings by pedestrians and drivers, especially confusion caused by the flashing green man and flashing amber vehicle signals. With Puffin crossings, drivers are held at a red signal when pedestrians are crossing and the crossing time is automatically extended for slower pedestrians. The advantages for drivers are that the lights will change back to green sooner than at a Pelican crossing and they will not be stopped if pedestrians cross in a gap in the traffic before the signals change.
	The Puffin crossing pedestrian signal is at the near-side of the road. This allows pedestrians to watch the traffic and the pedestrian signal simultaneously. The position of the near side signal is also helpful to visually impaired pedestrians who may not see clearly signals mounted at the far side of the road.

Port of Newhaven

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the levels of (a) vehicular and (b) pedestrian traffic using the Port of Newhaven have been in each of the last five years.

David Jamieson: The available information is as follows:
	
		Thousand
		
			  Road goods vehicles and trailers Passenger cars and buses Ferry passengers 
		
		
			 1998 24 136 621 
			 1999 1 78 337 
			 2000  73 313 
			 2001 9 76 337 
			 2002 24 78 379 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. '' less than half the final digit shown.
	2. Ferry passenger figures include drivers of road goods vehicles buses and cars, accompanying passengers, and foot passengers. The figures include traffic both in and out of the port.

Port Police

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many officers there have been in each port police force in each year since 2001.

David Jamieson: We do not have a breakdown available for each of the last four years as the Port Authorities are not required to supply employment figures to the Department. However information collected by the Department showed that in 2003 the seven port police forces in England and Wales employed a total of 198 sworn-in officers (exclusive of civilian support staff). Figures for the individual ports were as follows.
	
		
			 Port Number 
		
		
			 Bristol 25 
			 Dover 52 
			 Falmouth 4 
			 Felixstowe 27 
			 Liverpool 65 
			 Tees and Hartlepool 12 
			 Tilbury 13

Port Police

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to change the (a) powers, (b) remit and (c) number of port police forces.

David Jamieson: We have no current plans to change the powers, remit or number of port police forces.

Public-Private Partnership Arbiter

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who funds the Office of the Public-Private Partnership Arbiter; and if he will make a statement on the future funding of the Office.

Alistair Darling: The PPP Arbiter is funded by grant in aid from the Department for Transport. The level of grant is agreed each year.

Rail Crossing Orders

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many applications for rail crossing (a) extinguishment and (b) diversion orders have been (i) submitted and (ii) approved in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: Applications for rail crossing extinguishment and diversion orders are made by rail infrastructure controllers to local highway authorities, who retain records locally.

Rail Security

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many suspicious bags and packages have been inspected on (a) London Underground, (b) national rail services and (c) at railway stations in each year since 2001.

Tony McNulty: The number of suspect packages that have been inspected for London Underground, national rail services and railway stations is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 200001 312 
			 200102 410 
			 200203 302 
			 200304 676

Regulation UN/ECE104

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will report on (a) discussions in and (b) outcomes of the recent meeting of the Working Party on Lighting and Light-signalling of the United Nations Economic Committee for Europe in respect to the German proposal to make Regulation UN/ECE 104 mandatory in UN/ECE 48; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 16 July 2004, Official Report, column 1391W, on heavy goods vehicles, who has been awarded the contract to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of making ECE 104 mandatory; when he expects the report to be completed; when he expects to publish the final report; what the earliest date is that action could be taken to implement measures recommended by the report; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: My Department has awarded the contract to Ergonomics and Safety Research Ltd., part of Loughborough University. We expect the report to be completed and published by the end of February 2005. Any recommendations from the report would then be subject to consultation with interested parties in the UK.
	Any requirement for UNECE Regulation 104 reflective contour marking tape to be fitted to new vehicles would have to be agreed and implemented at a European level.
	At the recent meeting of the UNECE Working Group of technical experts on vehicle lighting (ORE), the delegates agreed to await the results of a cost-benefit analysis that is being carried out by the European Commission before deciding whether or not to adopt the proposal by Germany to mandate the installation of Regulation 104 tape on newly designed heavy vehicles.
	A report of the discussions will be published on the UNECE website when it is available.
	The proposal will be discussed again at the next GRE meeting scheduled for April 2005. If it were agreed at that meeting, then it could be applicable to new approvals under UNECE Regulation 48 no earlier than 1 July 2006.
	As UNECE Regulation 48 is not mandatory in the UK for heavy vehicles, this would then require national legislation to require new vehicles to be fitted with the tape.

Road Noise

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent by the Highways Agency on main road noise protection measures in each of the last five years; and how much is planned to be spent in each of the next three years.

David Jamieson: holding answer 25 October 2004
	The Highways Agency invests in three separate noise protection measures. These are concrete road resurfacing, noise fencing and bunds, and secondary glazing. The total approximate cost of noise mitigation measures for the last five years is 163 million. The detailed breakdown of this figure is set out in the following tables.
	In addition, new road schemes will have included noise mitigation measures within the scheme design. It is not possible to separate this element from the overall scheme costs.
	Planned major maintenance schemes involving carriageway resurfacing now use lower noise materials.
	
		Concrete resurfacing --  million
		
			  Cost 
		
		
			 19992000 7.5 
			 200001 6.0 
			 200102 0 
			 200203 50.1 
			 200304 78.0 
			 Total 141.6 
		
	
	
		Noise fencing and bunds --  million
		
			  Cost 
		
		
			 19992000 (1) 
			 200001 3.6 
			 200102 6.5 
			 200203 5.9 
			 200304 4.7 
			 Total 20.7 
		
	
	(1) Separate data not available.
	
		Secondary glazing
		
			  Cost () 
		
		
			 19992000 0 
			 200001 3,400 
			 200102 205,987 
			 200203 121,363 
			 200304 98,230 
			 Total 428,980 
		
	
	Forward programmes of work are agreed on an annual basis and it is not possible to give an explicit indication of the amount to be spent on noise protection measures over the next three years.

Sea Containers

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many sea containers have arrived at each British sea port in each year since 1997.

David Jamieson: The available information is as follows:
	
		Thousand
		
			 Port 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Aberdeen (2) (2) (2) 1 12 14 13 
			 Belfast 55 59 60 61 55 57 64 
			 Boston (3) (3) (3) 8 2 2 4 
			 Bristol 10 11 14 16 25 29 30 
			 Cardiff (3) (3) (3) 13 13 11 15 
			 Clyde 9 9 12 14 17 18 23 
			 Felixstowe 800 857 913 929 936 871 807 
			 Forth 32 32 33 40 40 47 53 
			 Goole (3) (3) (3) 36 37 26 9 
			 Grimsby and Immingham 79 80 86 21 23 53 36 
			 Harwich 27 25 24 34 7 9 7 
			 Hull 73 77 71 81 69 46 83 
			 Ipswich (2) 1 3 6 12 18 19 
			 Liverpool 152 156 163 167 159 148 168 
			 London 172 205 234 194 243 280 301 
			 Medway 129 165 160 162 165 172 161 
			 Portsmouth (2) (2) (2) (2) 17 19 11 
			 Southampton 296 279 301 346 371 403 425 
			 Tees and Hartlepool 84 80 74 14 23 35 38 
			 Tyne 10 12 12 7 14 16 13 
			 Warrenpoint 8 9 8 8 7 8 5 
		
	
	(2) Less than half the final digit shown
	(3) Not available
	Note:
	Information for 199799 is not directly comparable with subsequent years because of changes to the reporting system in 2000 (containers carried on ship by shipborne port to port trailers were included in 199799, but only partially included from 2000. The ports mainly affected by this change are Grimsby and Immingham, Tees and Hartlepool and London). Estimates have been made of the number of inwards containers in 199799, from inwards and outwards traffic combined.

Sea Containers

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff have been employed at each port of entry to inspect and search sea containers in each year since 2001.

David Jamieson: All ports handling international traffic must meet Government set standards for security. However, the actual number of staff that are employed by a port is a commercial decision for the ports themselves. We therefore do not hold this information centrally.

Security (Clapham Junction)

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on security procedures at Clapham Junction.

Tony McNulty: All railways stations are required to comply with certain security standards as set out in the Department for Transport National Railways Security Programme and the Station Security Instruction issued on 27 May 2004 under the terms of the Railways Act 1993. It is not our practice to detail the required security measures or procedures at individual stations for obvious reasons.

Strategic Rail Authority

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will set a date for the abolition of the Strategic Rail Authority.

Tony McNulty: The Secretary of State for Transport said at the time of the publication of the White Paper The Future of Rail (July 2004), that the Strategic Rail Authority would be wound up 'probably in the second half of next year'. The exact timing of the closure of the SRA is dependent on the necessary legislation being in place. The Government will introduce legislation as soon as Parliamentary time permits.

Vehicle Checks

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicle identity checks under the Vehicle (Crimes) Act 2001 have been recorded in each month since April 2003.

David Jamieson: The number of vehicle identity checks undertaken each month since the scheme began in April 2003 are recorded in the table.
	
		
			  Number of checks 
		
		
			 200304  
			 April 2 
			 May 243 
			 June 902 
			 July 1,798 
			 August 1,846 
			 September 2,564 
			 October 3,184 
			 November 3,030 
			 December 2,946 
			 January 3,361 
			 February 3,597 
			 March 3,760 
			 200405  
			 April 3,111 
			 May 2,963 
			 June 3,379 
			 July 3,338 
			 August 3,094 
			 September 3,674 
			 October (4)2,505 
			 November  
			 December  
			 January  
			 February  
			 March  
		
	
	(4) To 22 October 2004

Vehicle Checks

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles have been presented to each test station for vehicle identity checks since April 2003; and what the pass rate is at each test centre.

David Jamieson: The number of vehicle identity checks conducted at each test station and the respective pass rate for each station since the scheme began in April 2003 are listed in the following table.
	Very few vehicles fail the vehicle identity check. This was expected as the aim of the scheme was to deter ringing crime rather than detect it.
	
		
			 Station Number of checks Pass rate 
		
		
			 Aberdeen 145 100.0 
			 Aberystwyth 62 100.0 
			 Bristol 1,106 99.9 
			 Berwick 31 100.0 
			 Beverley 990 99.6 
			 Bicester 564 99.6 
			 Birmingham 3,866 99.8 
			 Caernarvon 13 100.0 
			 Cardiff 1,362 99.8 
			 Carlisle 194 100.0 
			 Manchester North 4,216 99.9 
			 Charlesfield 182 100.0 
			 Chelmsford 3,555 99.9 
			 Cowes 52 98.1 
			 Darlington 1,530 99.9 
			 Derby 1,744 100.0 
			 Doncaster 3,780 99.9 
			 Dumfries 127 100.0 
			 East Fortune 26 100.0 
			 Livingston 599 99.7 
			 London North 2,964 99.9 
			 Exeter 895 99.8 
			 Gillingham 1,574 99.9 
			 Glasgow 1,224 99.9 
			 Gloucester 492 99.8 
			 Guildford 671 99.7 
			 Haverfordwest 45 100.0 
			 Inverness 56 98.2 
			 Kidderminster 794 99.9 
			 Kirkwall 15 100.0 
			 Lerwick 6 100.0 
			 Liverpool 459 100.0 
			 Llandrindon Wells 23 100.0 
			 Lochgilphead 5 100.0 
			 Milnthorpe 246 99.6 
			 London South 2,736 99.9 
			 Montrose 112 100.0 
			 Newbury 263 99.6 
			 Newcastle 1,673 99.9 
			 Newton Stewart 33 100.0 
			 Northam SVA 232 99.6 
			 Norwich 931 100.0 
			 Perth 376 100.0 
			 Peterborough 1,342 99.9 
			 Poole 493 99.8 
			 Redruth 769 99.9 
			 Shrewsbury 24 100.0 
			 Shrewsbury SVA 662 100.0 
			 Southampton 528 100.0 
			 Speke 833 99.9 
			 Stornoway 4 100.0 
			 Ammanford 704 99.9 
			 Taunton 393 100.0 
			 Walton 641 99.7 
			 Watford (Edmonton) 2,151 100.0 
			 Wick 4 100.0 
			 Wrexham 778 100.0

Vehicle Registrations

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to review the regulations controlling the display of motor vehicles' registration letters and numbers.

David Jamieson: The regulations that govern the display of motor vehicles' registration letters and numbers were last reviewed in 1999. The British number plate is considered to be one of the clearest in Europe and there are no plans to review the regulations again at present.

ADVOCATE-GENERAL

Cullen Inquiry

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Advocate-General 
	(1)  what role she played in the decision to place a 100-year closure on the Cullen Inquiry into the Dunblane tragedy;
	(2)  on what basis the decision was taken to place a 100-year closure on the Cullen Inquiry into the Dunblane tragedy;
	(3)  what statutory basis was cited in placing a 100-year closure on the Cullen Inquiry.

Lynda Clark: I played no role in the decision to place a 100-year closure on the Cullen Inquiry into the Dunblane tragedy and, accordingly, had no part in any decision regarding closure periods relating to that Inquiry.
	Given the above, I was not involved in any citation of a statutory basis for placing a 100-year closure on Cullen Inquiry papers. I understand, however, that there is no statutory basis for the closure of records created by Scottish public bodies. The Public Records (Scotland) Act 1937 (the 1937 Act) makes provision for the preservation, care and custody of the public records of Scotland. The terms of the legislation are permissive. I understand that the criteria for closures longer than 30 years were defined in the 1993 White Paper on Open Government (Cm 2290) and that the principles set out in that White Paper are relevant in decision-making on disclosure.

TREASURY

Stamp Duty

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average amount of stamp duty charged on a Right to Buy council property was in the last year for which figures are available.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is not available. It is not possible from our survey data to identify Right to Buy council properties.

Betting and Duties Gaming Act

Stephen Byers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what steps he will take to ensure that advertisements at English Premier League football grounds comply with the Betting and Duties Gaming Act 1981;
	(2)  what action he plans to take to ensure that Mansion.com complies with the provisions of the Betting and Duties Gaming Act 1981.

John Healey: Enforcement of the provisions of the Betting and Gaming Duties Act is an operational matter for Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. They are pursuing this issue with the relevant parties.

Civil Servants

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average length of continuous service for civil servants within the Department is.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Years 
		
		
			 HM Treasury 10.0 
			 HM Customs and Excise 16.9 
			 Inland Revenue 14.7

Civil Partnership Bill

Edward Leigh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate the Government have made of the amount in forgone tax liabilities likely to arise from the amendments to the Civil Partnership Bill made by the House of Lords.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available.

Cleethorpes Constituency

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many residents in Cleethorpes constituency, broken down by electoral ward, are aged between (a) 60 to 64, (b) 65 to 69, (c) 70 to 74, (d) 75 to 79 and (e) over 80 years.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Shona McIsaac dated 1 November 2004
	The National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many residents of Cleethorpes constituency, broken down by electoral ward, are aged between (a) 60 to 64, (b) 65 to 69, (c) 70 to 74, (d) 75 to 79, and (e) over 80 years. I am replying in his absence. (194614).
	Mid-year population estimates are not available at ward level. I have therefore provided figures taken from the 2001 Census.
	The attached table shows the number of people in each age group who were resident in each ward within Cleethorpes constituency on Census day (29 April 2001). The figures have been extracted from Table S001 on the 2001 Census Standard Tables for wards for England and Wales DVD, which is available on request from Census Customer Services (census. customerservices@ons.gov.uk).
	
		Residents of Cleethorpes constituency aged 60 and over, 29 April 2001
		
			  All people aged 60 and over 
			 Area All People 60 to 64 65 to 69 70 to 74 75 to 79 80 or over 
		
		
			 Cleethorpes 20,690 5,069 4,544 3,860 3,298 3,919 
			 Croft Baker 3,202 633 648 596 621 704 
			 Haverstoe 2,782 683 617 528 476 478 
			 Humberston and New Waltham 2,902 726 633 560 444 539 
			 Immingham 2,329 625 525 478 359 342 
			 Sidney Sussex 1,987 555 436 329 245 422 
			 Waltham 1,847 412 410 332 283 410 
			 Wolds 1,495 369 356 278 214 278 
			 Barton 2,070 504 463 343 346 414 
			 Ferry 2,076 562 456 416 310 332 
		
	
	Source :
	2001 Census Standard Tables for wards for England and Wales

Departmental Policies (South Dorset)

Jim Knight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to the South Dorset constituency, the effects of changes to departmental policy since 1997 on the South Dorset constituency.

Stephen Timms: The Government has put in place a radical programme of both macroeconomic and microeconomic reform since 1997 to improve the economic performance of all parts of the UK. There is significant evidence that these policies have already yielded considerable benefits for the South Dorset constituency. For example, since May 1997, claimant unemployment has fallen by over three quarters, long-term unemployment overall has been almost eradicated and long-term youth unemployment has fallen by over 90 per cent.
	The Neighbourhood Statistics Service provides a wide range of statistical information at Parliamentary Constituency level, taken from the 2001 Census and other sources. This service is freely available via the National Statistics website at http://neighbourhood. statistics.gov.uk/.

Departmental Publications (Access)

Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of publications issued by his Department are available in (a) Braille, (b) autoprint, (c) large print and (d) easy read format.

Stephen Timms: All documents published by HM Treasury, HM Customs and Excise and Inland Revenue are available on request in Braille, large print, audio tape or CD. These Departments have dealt with over 28,000 such requests in the past year.
	The Treasury routinely produces Braille and audio versions of the Budget, Pre-Budget Report and Spending Review Summary Leaflets and Press Notices. Websites for all three Departments enable resizing and printing of documents in large text, are compatible with text-to-speech software, and contain links to pages providing advice for those who need to adapt on-line documents for ease of reading.

ECOFIN

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the outcome was of the ECOFIN Council held on 21 October; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: The Council reviewed measures the Netherlands has taken following the Recommendation it issued under the EU's excessive deficit procedure. On the basis of a statement by the Commission, the Council took note that, at present, the action taken by the Dutch authorities in response to the Council's Recommendation of 2 June appears adequate to put an end, by 2005, to the present excessive deficit situation in the Netherlands. The Commission and the Council will continue to monitor the action taken.
	The Council was briefed by the Commission on last month's fiscal notifications by member states. Six member statesGreece, Germany, Italy, Hungary Slovakia and Cypruswould record 2004 deficits significantly higher than previously reported.
	The Commission detailed that Greece's annual fiscal deficits were at least 2 percentage points higher than those stated in its returns every year starting from 2000. The Council looks forward to a detailed report from the Commission in time for the next ECOFIN, on Greece's deficit and debt data back to 1997.
	Poland highlighted the fact that Eurostat's decision on the accounting treatment of pension funds had added up to 2 percentage points to their deficit. Ministers raised concerns that statistical treatment should not result in perverse incentives to undertake necessary pension reforms and will return to the issue.
	The Council discussed the potential administrative burden for business of complying with legislation and regulation. The Council supported the development of a common European methodology, based on the recommendations of the EPC, to measure the administrative burden of EU legislation and regulation by, among others setting up pilot projects to determine the technical characteristics of the methodology and its application. The Council adopted Conclusions calling for the Commission to implement an administrative cost assessment for its proposals by 2005. ECOFIN will return to the topic of regulation, in particular the issue of competitiveness testing, later in the year, and regulatory reform will be discussed at 5 November European Council.
	The Council took note of the presentation by the Commission on: the 2003 annual report on protection of the EU's financial interests in the fight against fraud; a proposal for an anti-fraud action plan for 2004 and 2005; and a proposal for a Regulation on mutual assistance in the protection of the EU's financial interests. The Council was also briefed by the Commission on the conclusion and ratification of the EU's anti-fraud agreement with Switzerland and on a 12-year anti-contraband agreement reached by the Commission and 10 member states with Philip Morris International.
	The Council held an exchange of views on flexibility arrangements under the budget and the Commission's proposals for the 200713 period. The Council concluded that the current levels of flexibility were adequate, and that any changes to the Inter-Institutional Agreement would need to be taken in the context of the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework (200713). The Council received a presentation notifications by the Commission on proposals for modifying the EU's system of own resources.
	Over lunch, Ministers were informed of the outcome of the Eurogroup meeting held on 20 October. They discussed the EU's financial framework for the 200713 period and met Mr. James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, for a discussion of progress toward the Millennium Development Goals.
	Jon Cunliffe, Managing Director Macro-economic Policy and International Finance of the Treasury, represented the UK at ECOFIN.

Employment (Cleethorpes)

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many jobs have been created in Cleethorpes constituency since 1997.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Shona McIsaac, dated 1 November 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about jobs created in Cleethorpes. (194188)
	While statistics of new jobs created are not available explicitly, statistics from surveys enable comparisons to be made of net changes in numbers of jobs from year to year.
	The attached table shows the information requested, relating to jobs in Cleethorpes, for 1997 and 2002, which is the latest year available.
	
		Number of employees(5) with workplace in Cleethorpes parliamentary constituency, 1997 and 2002 -- Number, percentage
		
			  Total 
		
		
			 1997 27,700 
			 2002 29,700 
			   
			 Change from 1997 to 2002 2  
			 Absolute 2,000 
			 Percentage 7.1 
		
	
	(5) Employee jobs only, not self-employed jobs.
	(6) The 1997 to 2002 change has been rounded to the nearest hundred separately from rounded levels for 1997 and 2002.
	Source:
	1997; Annual Employment Survey, rescaled 2002; Annual Business Inquiry (ABI).

Financial Services Authority

David Kidney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the performance of the Financial Services Authority in (a) recruiting and (b) retaining appropriate staff for discharging its role of regulating businesses in the financial sector.

Stephen Timms: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is operationally independent of Government. The management of the recruitment and retention of appropriate FSA staff is a matter for the FSA Board.
	The FSA annual report for 200304 noted that appropriate strategies are in place for staff recruitment and retention and that these are key to the delivery of the FSA's business priorities.

Household Debt

David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment has been made of the effect in socio-economic classes (a) 5, (b) 6, (c) 7 and (d) 8 of household debt on income levels in (i) North West Leicestershire, (ii) the East Midlands and (iii) England.

Stephen Timms: Information is not available in the form requested. Research on the relationship between debt and income includes the work of the Task Force on Tackling Over-indebtedness and the related Household Survey (www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topicsl/overindebtedness.htm), and research reports such as Characteristics of families in debt and the nature of indebtedness (211, June 2004, www.dwp.gov.uk/iad/asd5/rports20032004/rrep211.asp) and Low-income Families and Household Spending (192, July 2003, www.dwp.gov.uk/iad/asd5/rrepl92.asp). The Government set out its policy in the Consumer Credit White Paper (Cm 6040).

Immigration

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the level of net immigration into (a) England and (b) the United Kingdom over the next 20 years.

Stephen Timms: The most recent estimates come from the Government Actuary's latest (2003-based) national population projections. The information requested is available from the GAD website at: http://www.gad.gov.uk/Population/2003/methodology/migrass.htm

Income Tax

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many pensioners were paying income tax on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will break down the total amount into amounts paid by each gender in five-year age ranges.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to table 3.12 'Income and tax for the elderly, by region and country' on the Inland Revenue website at www.inlandrevenue.gov. uk/stats/income_distribution/table-312200102.xls.
	The total amount of income tax in 200102 paid by pensioners aged 65 and over by each gender and five-year age ranges is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Amount of income tax ( million) 
			 Age range Male Female 
		
		
			 65 to 69 years 2,410 710 
			 70 to 74 years 1,580 620 
			 75 to 79 years 980 490 
			 80 to 84 years 470 350 
			 85+ years 280 300 
			 All (65+ years) 5,710 2,470 
		
	
	Note:
	Estimates have been rounded so may not sum to the totals.
	Estimates are based upon the Survey of Personal Incomes 200102.

Income Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of increasing income tax on levels of tax avoidance.

Dawn Primarolo: This Government has committed itself not to increase the basic or top rates of income tax. Tax avoidance undermines the principle of fairness that underpins the tax system and the Government keeps under review factors that may influence the behaviours of taxpayers. When considering changes in tax policy, the Government takes into account behavioural impacts that have a significant and quantifiable effect upon the level of tax avoidance.

Local Councils

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the ability of town and parish councils administering funds on behalf of arm's length projects or organisations which are largely funded by Government to reclaim VAT expenditure incurred on behalf of those projects or organisations.

Dawn Primarolo: Local authorities can reclaim the VAT incurred on goods and services they purchase in connection with either their taxable activities or their non-business activities.
	There are long-established guidelines on the recovery of VAT when other organisations are involved as well. To qualify for refunds in those circumstances, a local authority should place the order for the purchase; receive the goods or services ordered; be in receipt of a VAT invoice addressed to it; and pay for the purchase from its own funds.

Red Diesel

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many litres of red diesel were purchased in the UK in each year since 1997.

John Healey: Hydrocarbon oils clearance figures are published by Customs and Excise in the Hydrocarbon Oils Bulletin a copy of which can be found on the UK Trade Information website www.uktradeinfo.com.

Royal Residences

Alan Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent in the last 10 years on refurbishment of the property in Windsor Great Park recently leased by HRH the Duke of York; and from what sources.

Stephen Timms: Under the terms of which the Queen Mother occupied Royal Lodge, the internal works were the responsibility of her office while The Crown Estate was responsible for the maintenance of the exterior of the building and the surrounding grounds. Total Crown Estate expenses on all such maintenance (exterior building and grounds) over the last 10 years amounts to 711,087. During that time no external work has been undertaken which could be described as refurbishment.
	The Crown Estate has incurred no expenditure on internal refurbishment work.

Shareholder Executive

Gregory Barker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what appointments he has made to the Shareholder Executive.

Paul Boateng: The Treasury makes no appointments to the Shareholder Executive.

Sustainable Energy (CHP Provisions) Order

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures (a) the Office for National Statistics, (b) the Board of Inland Revenue, (c) HM Customs and Excise and (d) his Department (i) has undertaken and (ii) plans to undertake to comply with the Sustainable Energy (CHP Provisions) Order 2003.

John Healey: Neither Inland Revenue nor Customs and Excise uses CHP. The estate properties do not generally lend themselves to offering good opportunities for CHP as there is little industrial or high consumption usage on individual facilities. Currently, PFI contractors are looking at certain Customs and Excise and Inland Revenue sites to see if they have the potential to use CHP.
	The heating to the Treasury HQ in 1 Horse Guards Road is provided by the Whitehall district heating system, which is supplied from CHP plant.
	ONS are currently negotiating with OGC for a CHP energy supply to meet the framework target. ONS purchase 100 per cent. of the Southport site's energy from renewable sources, this is equivalent to 10 per cent. of the estate's requirement. ONS are about to commission a feasibility study for a CHP plant at the Newport site.

Unemployment (Greater London)

Tom Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of people over the age of 60 years living within the Greater London area have been unemployed for longer than 12 months.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 1 November 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about unemployment. I am replying in his absence. (194154)
	It is estimated that for the three months ending August 2004, the proportion of economically active people over the age of 60 (i.e. those either in a job or seeking a job) resident in the Greater London area who had been unemployed for 12 months or more, was 1.6%.
	These estimates from the Labour Force Survey are, as with any sample survey, subject to sampling variability.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Ancient Churches

Gordon Prentice: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what representations the Commissioners have made to the Government about the use of public funds for the upkeep of ancient churches.

Stuart Bell: The Commissioners have made no such representations. However, as members of the Church of England's Church Heritage Forum, they are joined in the statement Building faith in our future which celebrates the unique contribution of church buildings and seeks the kind of partnerships with Government, local authorities and others that will enhance that contribution for the benefit of future generations.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Civil Servants (Yorkshire)

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many full-time equivalent jobs (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies had in (i) Yorkshire and the Humber and (ii) the City of York in (A) 1997 and (B) the latest year for which figures are available.

David Lammy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1053W, by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Cabinet Office.

Licensing

Frank Dobson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the estimated saving to the Magistrates Courts Service is of the transfer of licensing functions from magistrates courts to local authorities.

Christopher Leslie: On 10 July 2003, the Licensing Act received Royal Assent. The Act transfers responsibility for the administration of licences from magistrates courts to licensing authorities, although magistrates will hear appeals against the licensing authorities' decisions.
	Currently, the principle is that the cost to magistrates courts of the administration of licensing is covered by the licensing fees charged. As such there is no separate budget in the magistrates courts allocated to licensing which will be saved due to the changes. Fee levels for the new system are still being negotiated but they should allow the licensing authorities to recover the full costs associated with their administration, inspection and enforcement functions under the Licensing Act 2003.

Mental Capacity

Paul Holmes: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps he plans to take to ensure that all individuals who manage the finances of those who lack capacity to manage their own finances (a) are bound by the first principles of the Mental Capacity Bill and (b) are subject to the safeguards and the new criminal offences that are in the Mental Capacity Bill.

Christopher Leslie: The principles in the Mental Capacity Bill will apply to all those who act under the provisions of the Bill on behalf of those who lack capacity. This will include anyone doing an act in connection with care or treatment to which clause 5 applies, attorneys under any Lasting Powers of Attorney, and deputies appointed by the Court of Protection.
	It will also include any person appointed a receiver under Part 7 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
	The Bill will be accompanied by a Code of Practice, which provides detailed guidance on how to comply with the principles of the Bill. The Public Guardianship Office will produce guidance for attorneys, deputies and receivers advising them of the principles of the Bill and that they must act in the best interest of the person lacking capacity at all times. The Department for Constitutional Affairs and Department of Health will provide guidance for health and social care professionals and all those who care for someone with incapacity.
	The principles will not formally apply to attorneys under existing Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs). At the time of execution of the EPA the parties have a legitimate expectation that the power will be capable of being used in the future on the same basis as the one on which it was created. In addition, we do not know how many EPAs exist as they do not have to be registered before use, and therefore we have no means of contacting the attorneys to advise them of the Bill's first principles. However those appointed in such a capacity will still have fiduciary and common law duties towards the person lacking capacity. Guidance issued by the Public Guardianship Office advises attorneys that they must act in the best interests of the client at all times. We will be promoting the principles of the Bill as good practice for those involved with people lacking capacity.
	Donees of EPAs and receivers are already monitored in similar fashion to the provisions for monitoring of attorneys and deputies in the Mental Capacity Bill. The Bill does, however, provide greater safeguards for registration of powers of attorney. People with capacity may therefore wish to replace their Enduring Power of Attorney with a lasting power of attorney, the benefits of which we will actively publicise.
	The new criminal offence proposed in the Mental Capacity Bill is intended to capture those individuals who are in a position of trust, care and power over people who are then ill-treated or neglected. If an attorney under an EPA has the care of a person who lacks or whom he reasonably believes to lack capacity and ill-treats or wilfully neglects that person, he may be guilty of the offence.

Mental Capacity

Paul Holmes: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what checks are undertaken by the Court of Protection if there is a complaint made about a receiver misusing the patient's money.

Christopher Leslie: All receivers are required to account annually to the Court of Protection. Any complaints of misuse on the part of a receiver are investigated by the Public Guardianship Office, which is the administrative arm of the Court. The outcome of the investigation is then referred to the Court for a decision on what action, if any, should be taken against the receiver. The Court has the power to replace a receiver and/or call in the security bond that the receiver deposited when the receivership order was made.

Mental Capacity

Paul Holmes: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what checks are undertaken by (a) the Court of Protection and (b) the Public Guardianship Office to ensure that an individual's monies are being used in his best interests.

Christopher Leslie: Receivers appointed by the Court of Protection are required to account annually for monies received and spent.
	The Lord Chancellor's Visitors report to the Court and the Public Guardianship Office (PGO) on whether clients' needs are being met and make suggestions on how to improve their quality of life.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

General Elections

Bob Spink: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what recent advice the Electoral Commission has given regarding the regulation of General Elections.

Peter Viggers: As provided for in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, and other relevant legislation, the Electoral Commission regularly provides advice to political parties and others on the rules relating to elections.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

CAFCASS

Bob Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance is given to CAFCASS as to whether a parent should be present when a child is interviewed during proceedings to decide how much contact each parent should have with the child.

Margaret Hodge: The CAFCASS Service Principles and Standards state:
	3.5 Except where the Practitioner is acting as a Reporting Officer, all children who are the subject of proceedings will normally be seen on one or more occasions by them.
	3.6 The Practitioner will also take all reasonable steps to see adult parties to the proceedings and any other relevant children and adults unless directed otherwise by the Court.
	Thus, when the practitioner is acting in private law proceedings relating to contact between children and their parents following separation or divorce, CAFCASS expects that its practitioners will see all children who are involved in a case. CAFCASS practitioners have high level skills and experience and are relied upon to exercise their professional judgement in each case. It is important that CAFCASS practitioners tailor their approach to working with children and families, in accordance with the individual circumstances of each case.
	Parental presence, during an interview with a child will depend on the following factors:
	the circumstances specific to the case;
	the age and developmental stage of the child; and
	the practitioner's professional judgement.
	Rule 4.11 (1) of the Family Proceedings Rules 1991 requires the practitioner, among other things, to have regard to the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned considered in the light of the child's age and understanding.

CAFCASS

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of families involved in separation and divorce cases were referred to the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in (a) 200102, (b) 200203 and (c) 200304.

Margaret Hodge: Such information as is available is in the table. It refers to the total number of private law cases referred to the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) and residence and contact applications to the courts (the cases most commonly associated with divorce and separation).
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 CAFCASS referrals (financial years) 
			 200102 17,352 
			 200203 34,761 
			 200304 33,803 
			   
			 Private law contact and residence applications (calendar years) 
			 2001 92,382 
			 2002 97,323 
			 2003 106,534 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Family Justice System (FJS) Data obtained from Judicial Statistics 20012003, published by the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
	2. FJS Statistics are measured by calendar year and CAFCASS statistics are measured by financial year. The two sets of data are not comparable and therefore a proportion cannot be derived. In addition, there is a time lag between application to court and referral to a CAFCASS officer, and there may be more than one application per family.
	3. FJS applications are in respect of all tiers of the courts and they show the total number of applications for residence and contact orders, whether or not they are withdrawn or refused.

CAFCASS

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of cases dealt with by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) in (a) 200102, (b) 200203 and (c) 200304 resulted in orders reached by consent following intervention by CAFCASS staff.

Margaret Hodge: The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service does not collect the data requested. CAFCASS's intervention has helped parties to reach agreement in many cases. CAFCASS is aiming to collect such data in the future.

CAFCASS

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what role the presumption of co-parenting plays in the policy of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service.

Margaret Hodge: The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service strongly supports the principles of children maintaining a strong relationship with both parents where it is safe for them to do so. Co-operation between parents who separate is critical for the well-being of the children and is encouraged by CAFCASS. The service works to ensure that both parents and wider family members continue to have a real and meaningful relationship with their children through high quality, supported contact arrangements.

Capital Funding

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 26 October 2004, Official Report, column 1156W, on capital funding, if he will list the specific capital programmes and the expenditure on each for (a) 200102, (b) 200203, (c) 200304, (d) 200405 and (e) 200506.

David Miliband: I will write to the hon. Member with the information requested and place a copy of my reply in the Library.

Capital Funding

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 26 October 2004, Official Report, column 1156W, on capital funding, what capital funding was received in (a) 200102, (b) 200203, (c) 200304, (d) 200405 and (e) 200506 by local education authorities (LEAs) and schools within LEAs taking part in the pilot and wave 1 projects in Building Schools for the Future.

David Miliband: We do not hold information in the form requested. The following table shows total capital allocations to date to LEAs and schools in wave 1 of Building Schools for the Future (BSF), including pathfinders, from 200102 to 200506. These figures include specific devolved formula capital allocations to schools. However, since local authorities devolve other funding to schools, and formulaic allocations will include abatements for BSF areas to avoid double funding, actual information of capital received by schools is held locally.
	
		Capital Allocations to pathfinder and wave 1 LEAs of BSF
		
			 000 
			 LEA name 200102 200203 200304 200405 200506 1 
		
		
			 Bradford 53,480 51,583 20,819 35,284 14,919 
			 Bristol, City of 16,115 13,219 (8)73,789 16,368 7,369 
			 Gateshead 8,005 7,271 22,804 6,957 (8)62,903 
			 Greenwich 11,319 9,628 9,051 16,361 10,283 
			 Knowsley 7,728 9,276 7,495 6,688 2,632 
			 Lancashire 29,778 46,470 62,607 44,234 17,790 
			 Leeds 19,377 28,101 28,263 (8)63,654 (8)121,912 
			 Leicester 9,950 7,419 12,329 18,259 5,915 
			 Lewisham 7,825 (8)75,005 16,601 15,070 7,662 
			 Manchester 23,337 21,337 (8)56,424 24,853 8,331 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne (8)54,956 8,364 16,280 (8)70,368 5,082 
			 Newham (8)38,635 14,093 (8)50,660 16,028 11,539 
			 Sheffield 20,427 18,705 (8)58,357 (8)83,165 15,238 
			 Solihull 7,156 13,733 9,424 9,801 4,407 
			 South Tyneside 4,051 8,063 6,596 (8)21,922 2,602 
			 Southwark 7,033 12,331 12,593 27,031 17,758 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 10,510 11,598 11,333 14,891 5,211 
			 Sunderland (8)29,627 15,259 13,436 11,049 4,803 
			 Waltham Forest 8,620 (8)65,547 10,364 10,260 4,490 
			 Total 367,929 437,002 499,225 512,243 330,846 
		
	
	(7) Does not include BSF funding, allocations for which are still being finalised.
	(8) Includes PFI credits.

Capital Funding

Ann Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much has been spent on the (a) repair and (b) modernisation of school buildings in the London borough of Hounslow in each of the past five years.

David Miliband: We do not hold this information centrally. The bulk of capital funding is allocated to local authorities and schools by formula so that they can decide their priorities for investment in line with locally decided asset management plans. Records of how this funding is used should therefore be held locally.
	The following table shows the capital allocations to Hounslow and its schools from 200001 to 200405.
	
		Capital allocations to Hounslow local education authority -- 000
		
			 Type of funding 200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 
		
		
			 Total 6,426 4,300 6,664 3,6193 9,515 
			   
			 Of which:  
			 LEA formulaic funding for:  
			 Modernisation and condition need 3,121 1,251 2,660 3,781 4,462 
			 New pupil places 779 218 297 488 531 
			 Devolved capital to schools 1,455 1,198 1,816 2,854 3,242

Children Bill

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how proposals in the Children Bill [Lords] on information exchange and proposed new systems developed by local authorities will deal with children who enter and leave the jurisdiction of England from or to other parts of the UK; and what discussions his officials have had with officials from the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland on this matter.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 25 October 2004
	Clause 12 of the Children Bill, now before Parliament, sets out proposals for databases, to be established at local, regional or national level or a combination thereof, containing information about all children in England. The databases are a tool to facilitate early intervention and help ensure effective action to meet the needs of children before a crisis develops. Practitioners working with children will be able to see who else is working with a child and if a concern about a child has been recorded. This will prompt them to get in touch with other practitioners and, together, gain a better, all-round picture of the child's needs and how they might best be met.
	Our intention is that children entering England from other parts of the UK will be included on the databases following their first contact with the health or education service or another children's service. Although the databases will not contain detailed case data, they will include basic identifying data and contact details of professionals who are or have recently been working with a child, and an indicator if a professional has a concern about that child and therefore wishes to be contacted by others. We recognise the desirability of having effective mechanisms for transfer of such data between the databases in England and any appropriate systems in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
	Clause 29 of the Children Bill contains provisions for Wales which parallel those for England. My officials will work closely with the Welsh Assembly as databases are implemented in both countries to ensure data can be transferred.
	Although Scotland does not yet have parallel provisions in legislation, a number of information-sharing pilots in Scottish local authority areas are under way and officials from the Scottish Executive are keeping in close touch with my officials as the proposals are developed.
	My officials are also in contact with officials in the Department for Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland to improve mutual understanding of the position in respective countries and will continue to develop these links as the DHSSPS develops its Strategy for Children in Need for children's services.

Children's Commissioner

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what role children and young people will have in the selection of a Children's Commissioner for England.

Margaret Hodge: I confirm that the Government intend to involve children and young people in the selection of the Children's Commissioner. A Government amendment to the Children Bill was tabled on 26 October 2004, which would require the Secretary of State, to the extent and in such manner as he saw fit, to involve children in the appointment of the Children's Commissioner.

Contact Centres

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 977W, on contact centres, how much funding was announced in March for establishing supervised contact centres; if he will list the 14 new centres; and what the cost of each is expected to be.

Margaret Hodge: Funding has been made available to establish 14 new supervised contact centres. This funding was announced in March 2004, just before the start of the current financial year. 2.5 million of the total 3.5 million DfES/Sure Start joint investment fund is designated to support the operation of these new services in the period up until March 2006. The 14 supervised centres and the amounts allocated to each are as follows:
	
		
			   
		
		
			 York (Family Mediation Service) 190,519 
			 Stoke (Mediation Advisory Service) 174,370 
			 Nottinghamshire (Nottinghamshire Domestic Violence Forum) 148,500 
			 North Wiltshire (Family Mediation Service) 140,508 
			 Merseyside (National Youth Advocacy Service) 196,000 
			 Blackburn (Diocese) 137,785 
			 South London (African Caribbean Family Mediation Service) 254,066 
			 Cambridge (Pyramids Family Centres) 40,000 
			 West London (Domestic Violence Intervention Programme) 201,565 
			 Scunthorpe (The Forge) 68,050 
			 Leeds (Family Service Unit) 157,423 
			 Northamptonshire (Spurgeons) 94,441 
			 NCH Herefordshire 209,263 
			 NCH Bristol 265,209 
			 Total 2,477,699

Education Maintenance Allowances

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many and what percentage of young people starting post-16 education in 2004 have been awarded education maintenance allowances in (a) Kirklees and (b) England;
	(2)  how many students have been awarded education maintenance allowance in (a) Kirklees and (b) England in 2004; and how much each was awarded.

Ivan Lewis: By the end of September 1,292 young people from the Kirklees local authority area had received an EMA Notice of Entitlement, of which 987 had enrolled for EMA at a school or college and 899 had received an EMA payment. The percentage of 16-year-olds awarded EMA in Kirklees as a proportion of the total estimated number in full time education is 24 per cent.987 enrolled on EMA compared to an estimated 4,120 16-year-olds in full-time education. These figures continue to improve as those who applied late have had their applications assessed and are enrolled for payment.
	Nationally, it is estimated that just over half (50.5 per cent.) of 16-year-olds in full-time education will be eligible for EMA. By the end of September 150,000 16-year-olds had received an EMA Notice of Entitlement, 113,000 had enrolled for EMA with their school or college, and 103,600 had received an EMA payment. The numbers enrolled for EMA at the end of September represents about 22 per cent. of the estimated 16-year-old population in full-time education (506,310). The percentage of those on EMA receiving the full 30 award is 78 per cent., with 10 per cent. receiving the 20 rate and 12 per cent. the 10 rate.

Private Finance Initiative

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance is provided to procuring authorities within the education system about the treatment of PFI arrangements in the accounts of public bodies.

David Miliband: For schools PFI projects, the appropriate guidance is the Treasury Taskforce Technical Note 1: How to Account for PFI Transactions.

Social Inclusion

Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to improve social inclusion for children and young people with complex health needs.

Margaret Hodge: The children's national service framework sets standards for children's health services and social services, and how these services should interface with education. The NSF addresses the particular needs of children who are often at risk of achieving poor outcomes and devotes an entire standard to services for disabled children and children and with complex health needs.
	The children's national service framework addresses the needs of the 'whole child' and recognises that services must promote social inclusion for all children to enable them to participate in childhood, family and community activities. Children with complex health needs and their families are also expected to receive the information that enables them to make decisions about how their services are designed and delivered. From September 2005 and over the following three years, joint area reviews of children's services between Ofsted, the Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection and other inspectorates, will assess the extent to which NHS and local authorities are able to demonstrate that their services are improving and promoting inclusion.

Teachers' Pay (Lincolnshire)

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average full-time equivalent gross pay of teachers in the state sector in (a) North East Lincolnshire and (b) North Lincolnshire was (i) across all grades and (ii) at each grade in each year since 1997.

David Miliband: The following table gives the gross average salary, across all grades and for each grade, of full-time regular qualified teachers in the maintained schools sector in North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire local education authorities in each year from 1997. The latest information available is for 2003.
	
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 North East Lincolnshire 
			 All grades 22,690 23,270 24,110 24,940 27,220 28,610 30,190 
			 Classroom teachers 21,570 22,110 22,870 23,630 25,520 26,730 28,090 
			 Assistant head teachers(9) 35,060 36,160 38,280 
			 Deputy head teachers 27,610 28,580 29,790 30,780 34,550 36,440 38,280 
			 Head teachers 31,150 32,190 33,550 36,140 39,480 41,870 44,670 
			 
			 North Lincolnshire 
			 All grades 22,650 23,260 24,010 25,100 27,160 28,520 30,420 
			 Classroom teachers 21,490 22,070 22,780 23,700 25,560 26,810 28,510 
			 Assistant head teachers(9) 34,810 37,070 38,710 
			 Deputy head teachers 27,740 28,380 29,600 30,650 32,910 34,940 37,200 
			 Head teachers 30,430 31,670 33,060 35,950 38,200 40,510 43,220 
		
	
	(9) There were no assistant heads prior to 2001.
	Source:
	Database of Teachers' Records

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

School Sport

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans her Department has to promote sport in schools; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The Government is investing over 1 billion in England to transform school sport. This is delivering an ambitious Public Service Agreement target to increase the percentage of 516 year olds who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport to 75 per cent. by 2006 and to 85 per cent. by 2008.

Gambling Bill

Eric Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations she has received regarding grandfather rights for certain gambling operators in the Gambling Bill.

Richard Caborn: All sectors of the industry have sought assurances that gambling which is now permitted under the current law will continue to be permitted under the Bill. Where we are satisfied that this reassurance can be provided without compromising necessary protections for children and the vulnerable we have provided it; and Schedule 15 of the Bill makes provision for this. But in other cases we have made it clear that protection in the public interest must take priority.

Gambling Bill

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect on the number of people with gambling problems of the provisions of the Gambling Bill.

Richard Caborn: We are providing in the Gambling Bill a comprehensive package of new protections for children and the vulnerable which are designed to ensure that problem gambling does not increase. We shall, however, keep the position under close and continuing review, and will not hesitate to make use of the powers in the Bill to adjust the balance of regulation should the need arise. Without the Bill it is very likely that problem gambling in Britain will increase, as those concerned with prevention and treatment have recognised.

Regional Opera Companies

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to increase the support given to regional opera companies.

Estelle Morris: Arts Council England investment in regional opera will increase by almost 1 million next year, bringing funding to over 17 million.
	This increasing level of support for regional opera funds the equivalent of 57 touring weeks every year, bringing high quality opera to every region.
	A further 500,000 has been allocated to smaller scale touring opera, producing an additional 124 performances in 89 venues across the country.

British Grand Prix

Robert Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations her Department has made regarding the future of the British grand prix.

Richard Caborn: While we support and desire a British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the Government's role has been one of dialogue and facilitation. The current commercial negotiations between the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) and Formula One Management (FOM) to reach an agreement to secure the British Grand Prix on the 2005 Formula 1 Calendar are a matter for them. However, where appropriate, Derek Mapp, Chair of the East Midlands Development Agency and I have done everything we can to help bring the parties together to broker a suitable outcome.

National Guild of Jesters

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the National Guild of Jesters.

Richard Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had discussions with the National Guild of Jesters. The Minister for Media and Heritage has recently written to the hon. Member for Salisbury about the concerns of the National Guild with the recent appointment of a jester by English Heritage.

Olympic Games

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the impact will be on North Yorkshire of the Olympic bid for London 2012.

Richard Caborn: Yorkshire Forward fully support the London bid for the 2012 Olympics. We and London 2012 will work with them and with RDAs throughout the country to ensure that North Yorkshire and the whole UK can benefit.

Olympic Games

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the benefits to Romford of holding the 2012 Olympics in London.

Richard Caborn: The London Development Agency have advised that potential benefits to Romford would include:
	The opportunity to motivate young Romford schoolchildren to take up sport and get more active,
	Romford residents will be just minutes by train from the biggest sporting and cultural event on earth,
	The games will need the support of a huge variety of businesses,
	And people in the local community will be free to access job opportunities in sectors such as tourism, construction, food and the media.
	Organisations like the London Development Agency and the East London Business Alliance have recognized these opportunities and are fully supportive of the bid.

Olympic Games

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether she has made an assessment of the response of voluntary organisations in relation to the proposed London Olympics.

Richard Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has noted the response of voluntary organisations to the London Olympic bid. Some organisations have expressed concern at the potential impact of the proposed Olympic lottery games on income to the existing lottery good causes. There is, however, widespread support in the voluntary sector for the Olympic bid generally, because of the benefits the games would bring to the UK, including opportunities for volunteering.

Olympic Games

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has for events in the proposed London Olympics to be held (a) in Scotland and (b) outside London.

Richard Caborn: London 2012 is responsible for selecting the venues for the bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic games and their plans are for the Olympic football competition to be held in stadia across the country including Hampden Park, Glasgow. Sailing events will take place in Weymouth and Portland, the rowing events at Eton Dorney and mountain bike events in Brentwood.
	Key agencies in Scotland and throughout the UK have been meeting to co-ordinate arrangements and to agree how best to maximise the benefits that can be derived from a London Olympics.
	In addition the Cultural Olympiad will take place across the UK over the four years up to and including 2012 and the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay is likely to involve every major city and town throughout the UK over several months.

Olympic Games

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her most recent assessment is of the cost to public funds of the proposed London Olympics in 2012; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: As set out in the Command Paper 5867, laid before the House in June 2003, provision has been made for a public sector funding package of up to 2.375 billion to fund Olympic costs.

Olympic Games

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether Sportscotland will be contributing funding for the proposed Olympic games in London in 2012.

Richard Caborn: In the event of a successful London bid, the sports lottery distributors, including Sportscotland, will contribute a total of 340 million to the overall lottery funding package of up to 1.5 billion. This money will be used to fund elite sport and associated sports infrastructure development. Sport England has already committed 40 million towards the development of an aquatics centre in the Olympic Park. Exactly how the remaining 300 million expenditure will be allocated is a matter for the sports lottery distributors. They are now collectively considering how best to contribute to this element of the lottery funding package in order to maximise Olympic opportunities for elite sport and on-going community legacies. Any expenditure by Sportscotland as part of its contribution will be entirely for the benefit of Scotland, for investment in its elite athletes and associated sports infrastructure.

Olympic Games

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her latest estimate is of the proportion of funding for the proposed London Olympics which will come from the national lottery.

Richard Caborn: As set out in paragraph 12 of the Command Paper 5867, laid before the House in June 2003, the expectation is that public funding for Olympic staging will be met in the ratio 11:24, where 11 is the Olympic precept in London, and where 24 is grants by the national lottery. Additionally, as set out in paragraph 11 of the Command Paper, up to 300 million from the sports lottery distributors will be used to fund elite sport and associated sports infrastructure development. A substantial proportion of the overall costs will be met by Olympic revenues or by the private sector.

Olympic Games

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much of the allocated spending for the 2012 Olympics will be used on (a) construction costs and (b) promotional costs.

Richard Caborn: We are in the process of finalising the budget for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London in 2012 should we be successful in our bid. However, the current intention, which is unlikely to change significantly, is that the bulk of the expenditure will go on the construction of venues, provision of transport facilities and the various operational costs associated with staging the games, and that the promotional costs will only be a small proportion of the total.

Olympic Games

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  whether Point 17 of the Olympic Funding: Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and the Mayor of London requires council tax payers in London to fund any overspend associated with the proposed London 2012 Olympics;
	(2)  whether the Olympic Funding: Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and the Mayor of London requires the Government to fund any cost overspend associated with the proposed Olympics in London in 2012.

Richard Caborn: The robust and business-like approach to planning and financial controls on the part of the Olympic Stakeholders is designed to prevent such overspend. As the memorandum of understanding, laid before Parliament as Command Paper 5867, states in paragraph 17, in the event of any overspend the Government will be the ultimate guarantor. We further reported this to Parliament in a departmental minute dated 2 December 2003. As the memorandum goes on to say, the Government expects to discharge that responsibility (should it arise) in a sharing agreement to be agreed as appropriate with the Mayor of London and through seeking additional national lottery funding in amounts to be agreed at the time. At this stage however, no such specific sharing arrangements exist. Whatever the arrangements which might apply, levels of any London council tax precept would be a matter for the Mayor of London.

Arts Grants (Barking and Dagenham)

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the arts in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham have received in Government grants in each year since 2001.

Estelle Morris: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not fund the arts directly, but through Arts Council England, who are responsible for distributing public money from Government.
	The following table supplied by Arts Council England provides a breakdown of the information requested.
	
		
			 Funding stream Grant programme 200102 200203 200304 
		
		
			 Grant in aid Regularly Funded Organisations 33,530 43,542 38,030 
			  Grants for the arts, Individuals(10)   5,000 
			  
			 Lottery Regional Arts Lottery Programme 22,000 75,040 17,399 
			  Grants for the arts, Organisations(10)   233,500 
			  Capital   40,000 
			  
			  Total 55,530 118,582 333,929 
		
	
	(10) Grants for the arts, Individuals and Organisations, was launched in 200304.

Chorley Football Club

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what grants are available to Chorley Football Club to enable it (a) to stay at Victory Park and (b) to move to a new ground.

Richard Caborn: Grants are available from the Football Foundation's Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF) to clubs playing in the football league, conference or national league system, down to step seven and below, who wish to improve their facilities or relocate to new grounds.
	The type of projects which qualify for FSIF funding and the amount of grant available depend upon the level at which clubs are playing.

Clarence House

Alan Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what accommodation is occupied by (a) HRH Prince Charles and (b) his staff at Clarence House.

Richard Caborn: Clarence House is the official London residence of HRH The Prince of Wales and the main office for His Household.
	The ground floor rooms of Clarence House are used by The Prince of Wales for receiving and entertaining official guests and visitors; approximately 4,000 were received or entertained during the last year. The rooms are open during the summer when His Royal Highness is not in residence; approximately 42,500 members of the public visited Clarence House this summer.
	The first and second floors provide private accommodation for The Prince of Wales and for Princes William and Harry when they are in London.
	The third floor provides permanent accommodation for one member of staff and overnight accommodation for staff when The Prince of Wales is in London on official duties.
	There are 37 rooms in Clarence House that accommodate 48 of The Prince of Wales's office staff.

Consultants

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the contracts awarded by her Department to consultants in (a) 1996, (b) 1997 and (c) 1998; what the (i) name of the consulting company, (ii) value of the contract and (iii) purpose of the contract was in each case; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: Detailed records of contracts are not retained for the years 1996, 1997 and 1998. In the financial year 199596 the cost of consultants was 164,000, in 199697 it was 309,000 and in 199798 it was 728,000.

Consultants

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many consultancy firms or companies have been retained by the Department since June 2001; what the projects are for which each has been retained; and what the total is of the fees paid or incurred in each case.

Richard Caborn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 October 2004, Official Report, columns 44243 to the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Mr. Maples).

Creative Partnerships

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on Creative Partnerships in each year from 200304 (a) in total and (b) as a percentage of the total budget of Creative Partnerships; how much she estimates her Department will spent in each year until 200708; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The information requested is set out in the table. Outturn figures for the current financial year and budget figures for 200607 and 200708 are not yet available.
	
		
			  Budget allocated by DCMS Outturn Percentage of budget 
		
		
			 200304 33,500 23,100 69 
			 200405 25,300 n/a n/a 
			 200506 45,000 n/a n/a

Departmental Documents

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the Department's target is for the interval between publication of (a) departmental announcements and documents and (b) material published by public bodies for which her Department has oversight and their posting online; and what the average interval was in the latest year for which figures are available.

Richard Caborn: The Department aims to make all announcements and documents available online at the same time as they are otherwise released. No 30-minute target exists. However, we require a maximum of three days lead-in time to make documents compliant with the Disability and Discrimination Act accessibility guidance when they are to be published online so, in certain circumstances, simultaneous publication is not possible. The information on the targets set by DCMS bodies for publishing online could be discovered only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental IT

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of the Department's (a) implemented and (b) planned computer systems use open source software; and what plans are in place to raise this level.

Richard Caborn: My Department uses a number of open source applications but it would not be meaningful to express those in terms of a percentage of computer systems.
	My Department was involved with the recent OGC led review of open source and our future plans will take account of the revised Open Source Software Policy Version 2.0.

Departmental Press Officers

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many press officers are employed in her Department; and how many were employed in each year since 199697.

Richard Caborn: There were 12 press officers, including two non-permanent staff, employed by the Department in 200304. Numbers of press officers employed in each year from 199697 are as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 199697 7 
			 199798 7 
			 199899 9 
			 19992000 8 
			 200001 9 
			 200102 8 
			 200203 9

Departmental Salaries

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people in her Department earn more than a whole-time equivalent salary of 57,485 per year.

Richard Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport have 25 people who earn more than a whole-time equivalent salary of 57,485 per year.

Digital Broadcasting

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the timetable for providing free to air digital broadcasting to High Peak.

Estelle Morris: Free to air digital services via Digital Terrestrial Television are unlikely to be available throughout the High Peak area until Switchover because of spectrum constraints. The BBC and Ofcom believe that Switchover could start to happen as early as 2007 and be completed by 2012.
	Discussions are taking place between the Government, Ofcom, and the Public Service Broadcasters and other stakeholders on the detailed plans for switchover. However, no specific dates have been set for the conversion of individual transmitters (with the exception of the Technical Trial transmitter in Ferryside where we plan Switchover in March 2005).
	Some free to air services are available via digital satellite. Unfortunately, a regional breakdown of digital satellite reception is not possible, but, according to Ofcom figures, digital satellite coverage currently stands at between 96 per cent. and 98 per cent. of all UK households.

Digital Broadcasting

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the date for the switch-off of analogue television transmissions.

Estelle Morris: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Members for Torbay (Mr. Sanders) and Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael).

Football

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the relevant authorities regarding codes of conduct within football.

Richard Caborn: The Government understand the important role that sports men and women have as role models in our society. As Minister of Sport I have impressed upon the Football Association, Premier League, and the Football League, on a number of occasions, the importance of upholding codes of conduct within the game. I have also written to all the football club chairmen highlighting this.

Gambling

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what protocols are in place governing the attendance of her departmental officials at trade conventions promoting the interests of the foreign gaming industry.

Richard Caborn: Officials attend trade conventions, conferences or similar outside events when it is judged that this use of official time is justified by the opportunity to obtain information relevant to the conduct of policy which will enhance their ability to advise Ministers, or to pursue discussions with commercial and other interest groups which are relevant to the assessment of the benefits, costs and risks of policy options or proposals and their implementation. All attendances are subject to the rules laid down in the Civil Service Code and the Department's Staff Guide.

Gambling

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her proposals for gaming machines.

Richard Caborn: I am proposing that machines which may be played by children will be available in fewer places than at present, and will have lower stakes and prizes than at present. Machines with the highest stakes and prizes will be available only in the strictly regulated environment of regional casinosunlike Australia. And the Bill provides new and extensive controls over the operation of all gaming machines, wherever sited.

Licensing Act

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the cost to local authorities of implementing the Licensing Act 2003, in terms of (a) set-up and transition costs and (b) ongoing costs.

Richard Caborn: We estimate that the costs falling on licensing authorities of start up and during the transitional period, which is expected to last for nine months, will be approximately 41 million and that the costs in each of the first three years after the regime becomes fully operational would be approximately 34 million, 30 million and 31 million. These costs would be recovered through fees charged for authorisations under the Act. The fees are to be set centrally by the Secretary of State by regulations made under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003. We expect to commence a public consultation on our estimates of costs and proposed fee levels imminently. A small number of licensing authorities are not local authorities.

New Deal

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many personnel the Department has recruited under the New Deal in each of the past five years.

Richard Caborn: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 25 October 2004, Official Report, columns 105254W.

Public Libraries

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her Department's policies towards provision of public libraries in north east Lincolnshire.

Estelle Morris: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has a duty under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 to superintend the provision of public library services by the 149 library authorities in England to secure the proper discharge by them of their responsibilities, under the same legislation, to provide a comprehensive and efficient service. Public libraries are funded through a combination of the Local Authority Settlement, locally raised taxation, and income that they generate for themselves. Public library funding is a matter of local discretion and it is a matter for each library authority to decide how much to spend on their libraries. The Department issues national standards for public libraries and last year produced Framework for the Future a ten year vision for public libraries.

Public Libraries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will conduct a review of the way libraries are funded.

Estelle Morris: The Department with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council will shortly commission a study of the book supply chain and the most effective and efficient ways for libraries to spend, which will include a look at the sources of libraries income.

Quality Schemes

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding her Department has provided for England's Quality Schemes in this financial year; and what expenditure on such schemes is planned for future years.

Richard Caborn: There are three quality schemes for accommodation in England; managed by the AA, the RAC and VisitBritain. The AA and RAC schemes are run as part of their commercial operations and receive no public funding.
	VisitBritain supports its National Quality Assurance Standards for accommodation and the Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme from the grant in aid it receives from the Department of Culture Media and Sport. The budget for these schemes for this financial year is 1,454,000. It is anticipated that this figure will remain broadly constant for the foreseeable future, but detailed forward plans have not been finalised.

St. James' Palace

Alan Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what accommodation HRH Princess Anne and her staff occupy at St. James' Palace.

Richard Caborn: HRH The Princess Royal has a private apartment in St. James's Palace. The Princess's office, and office accommodation for her immediate staff are in Buckingham Palace. None of The Princess Royal's staff live in either St. James's Palace or Kensington Palace.

Television Licences

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many households in (a) North Southwark and Bermondsey, (b) Camberwell and Peckham and (c) Dulwich and West Norwood are receiving a free television licence for over-75s.

Estelle Morris: TV Licensing, who administer free television licences for people aged 75 or over as agents for the BBC, are not able to provide geographical breakdowns of the number of free licences issued. However, 2001 Census data indicate that there are approximately (a) 5,400 people in the North Southwark and Bermondsey constituency, (b) 3,500 people in Camberwell and Peckham and (c) 5,100 people in Dulwich and West Norwood aged 75 or over.

Tourism

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action her Department is taking to improve collection of data about the tourism industry.

Richard Caborn: Better business data for the tourism sector is one of the key priority work areas set out in Tomorrow's Tourism Today, which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State launched in July. The Review of Tourism Statistics, published in June in co-operation with the Office of National Statistics, recommended a number of changes to the UK Tourism Survey and other sources of sectoral data. The Tourism Statistics Implementation Planning Group, which is led by my Department and includes representatives of the Devolved Administrations and Tourist Boards, is considering the recommendations and will publish an action plan before the end of the year.

Tourism

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her estimate is of the percentage growth per annum required to reach the 100 billion target value for the tourism industry by 2010.

Richard Caborn: The target of a 100 billion UK tourism industry by 2010 was agreed by my Department with VisitBritain, the Tourism Alliance, the Regional Development Agencies and the Local Government Association, and included in the national strategy document, Tomorrow's Tourism Today, in July. The target was based on a baseline figure of 76 billion for 2002.
	Since that target was agreed, my Department has adopted a revised method of calculating the value of the tourism sector. Tourism Satellite Accounting produces a more accurate estimate of total turnover, and is the accepted international standard. Using the revised method, the total value of expenditure by tourists on UK trips in 2002 was 73.7 billion.
	The target of 100 billion by 2010, against the revised baseline of 73.7 billion, stands. The achievement of that target would entail a percentage growth rate of 3.9 per cent. per annum.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum Seekers

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are held in each asylum detention centre.

Des Browne: Information on the number of persons recorded as being in detention in the United Kingdom solely under Immigration Act powers as at 26 June 2004 is shown in the following table.
	Information on numbers detained, by place of detention, is published on a quarterly and annual basis. The next quarterly statistics, providing the numbers detained at the end of September, will be available on 16 November on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate web site at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		Persons recorded as being in detention in the United Kingdom solely under Immigration Act powers as at 26 June 2004, by place of detention1,2 -- Number of individuals
		
			 Place of detention Total detainees Of whom: asylum seekers(13) 
		
		
			 Oakington Reception Centre 350 350 
			 Immigration Service Removal Centres 
			 Harmondsworth 375 285 
			 Dover 240 195 
			 Campsfield House 165 120 
			 Tinsley House 105 80 
			 Haslar 85 70 
			 Lindholme 85 65 
			 Dungavel 70 55 
			 Yarl's Wood 60 50 
			 Immigration Short-term Holding Facilities 
			 Dover Harbour 20 15 
			 Manchester Airport 10 5 
			 Harwich Abbey 5 5 
			 Prison establishments   
			 Belmarsh 15 5 
			 Norwich 10 10 
			 Wandsworth 10 5 
			 Elmley 10 5 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 10 5 
			 Pentonville 5 5 
			 Brixton 5 * 
			 Other prison establishments(14) 100 60 
			 Total 1,735 1,385 
		
	
	(11) Figures rounded to the nearest 5, with * = 1 or 2, and exclude persons detained in police cells and those in dual detention.
	(12) A recent assessment of figures supplied by IND on immigration detention has highlighted an undercount of detainees held in prisons.
	(13) Persons detained under Immigration Act powers who are recorded as having sought asylum at some stage.
	(14) Other prison establishments with five or fewer detainees.

Asylum Seekers

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many appeals against a refusal to grant asylum are awaiting hearing in the Greater London area.

David Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
	As at 26 October 2004, information drawn from the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA) database IRIS indicates that, at IAA Hearing Centres within the boundaries of the M25, there are approximately 2,229 appeals against a refusal of being granted asylum which are awaiting a hearing before an Immigration Adjudicator. This information does not include appeals which are currently in the process of being created following receipt by the IAA, or cases where a subsequent appeal has been made to the Immigration Appeal Tribunal (IAT) on a point of law.

Asylum Seekers

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have used the channel tunnel illegally to gain access to the United Kingdom to seek asylum.

Des Browne: Information on entry routes of those claiming asylum, including on the number of asylum applicants entering the UK via the channel tunnel, is unavailable. Most asylum applicants conceal their route of entry.
	Information on asylum applications is published on a quarterly and annual basis. The next publication covering the third quarter of 2004 (July to September) will be available on 16 November on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum Seekers

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his latest estimate is of the number of asylum applicants who have been refused section 4 support; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: Since January 2004 a total of 788 unsuccessful asylum seekers have been refused section 4 support.

Biometric Identifiers

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the results of the UK Passport Service's trial into biometric identifiers will be made available.

Des Browne: The enrolment of volunteers on the UK Passport Service biometrics trial is expected to be completed in November 2004. This will be followed by evaluation and quality assurance of the results with the findings being released as soon as possible thereafter.

Vehicle Crime

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what initiatives his Department have implemented to reduce the number of car thefts.

Hazel Blears: The Home Office is taking forward work within the broad strategy published by the Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team in 1999 for meeting the Government's target to reduce vehicle crime by 30 per cent. over five years.
	The initiatives on which the Home Office has taken the lead include:
	bringing into effect the Motor Salvage Operators Regulations in October 2002;
	working to improve police performance including, with the Association of Chief Police Officers, publication in 2003 of good practice advice in tackling vehicle crime;
	getting across car crime prevention advice to motorists through national communications campaigns and by using opportunities provided by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency;
	providing funding to support vehicle crime reduction work undertaken by the National Criminal Intelligence Service (1.41 million between 200001 and 200405) installing CCTV schemes in 1,222 car parks (106 million between 19992000 and 200203);
	the Safer Parking Scheme (865,000 between 200102 and 200405, including its predecessor the ACPO Secured Car Park Scheme) and the Tenants Participation Advisory Service 'Partnership into Practice' competitions to identify and disseminate good practice for community groups (37,000 in 200304 and 40,000 estimated for 200405).
	In addition, other Home Office funding available to support vehicle crime reduction work, as well as other interventions to reduce crime according to local priorities includes that available to the police through the Police Standards Unit (23.1 million in 200304 and 20 million in 200405); the Basic Command Unit Fund (50 million in both 200304 and 200405); and that available to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships through the Building Safer Communities Fund (94 million from 200203 to 200405, including its predecessor, the Safer Communities Initiative).
	These, together with other initiatives undertaken by other Government Departments and key stakeholders, have resulted in British Crime Survey estimates from interviews in the year ending June 2004 showing a reduction of 33 per cent. in vehicle related thefts against 1999 (British Crime Survey 2000).

Consultants

John Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will list the contracts awarded by his Department to consultants in each of the last five years, stating in each case (a) the name of the consulting company, (b) the value of the of the contract and (c) the purpose for which the contract was awarded; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office does not hold central records of all the contracts awarded to consultants in each of the last five years. To obtain the information requested for each of the last five years would result in disproportionate costs.
	The Home Office is currently addressing this problem with the implementation of an Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, Adelphi, in the core Home Office and in the Prison Service, Phoenix, which will provide accurate management information on the Department's use of consultants.
	The use of external consultants in the Home Office provides the Department with specialist knowledge, skill, capacity and technical expertise that is not otherwise available in the House.

Correspondence

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for The Home Department what the average time for a reply to be sent to an hon. Member from a Minister in the Home Office was in the last period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: My Home Office colleagues and I replied within 15 working days to 70 per cent. of letters received in August, an improvement on the 60 per cent. achieved in respect of letters received in January.
	We aim to reply to 95 per cent. of Members' letters within 15 working days except in the case of correspondence relating to the Immigration and Nationality Department and HM Prison Service, when we aim to reply within 20 working days.
	Improving performance against targets is recognised as a priority across the Department. The computerised Correspondence Tracking System has recently been extended to cover the immigration and nationality areas and this should result in further improvements in performance.
	Data on the average time for a reply to be sent is not held and could be made available only at disproportionate cost.

Correspondence

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for The Home Department whether it is the policy of his Department to send acknowledgement cards to honourable Members who have written to his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: All Members' correspondence processed on the Home Office's correspondence tracking system should be acknowledged.
	During August and September technical difficulties meant that in some cases no acknowledgement was sent and in others multiple acknowledgements were generated. These problems have now been resolved.

Counter-terrorism

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much of the extra 90 million for counter-terrorism measures announced on 29 September will be made available to the Metropolitan Police Service; and when the breakdown of allocations will be announced.

David Blunkett: For security reasons we would not wish to comment on the allocation of specific counter terrorism funding. However I can say that additional funding is being made available to the Police Service in England and Wales and on which we are currently consulting with the Association of Chief Police Officers, which includes senior officers from the Metropolitan Police Service.

Custody Suites

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for The Home Department how many custody suites were available in each police authority area in England and Wales in each year from 1993 to 2004.

Hazel Blears: This information is not held centrally.

English Language Testing System

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the new requirement for Ministers of Religion who wish to come to the UK to provide an international English Language Testing System certificate.

Des Browne: I would refer my hon. Friend to the written statement which my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, made to the House on 22 July.
	Under the new Rules, which came into force on 23 August, those seeking entry as a Minister of Religion are required to demonstrate that they have a basic command of spoken English by providing an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) certificate at the limited user level (Level 4). We intend to raise this requirement to level 6 spoken and written English after an interim period of two years.
	For people with existing English skillsfor example those educated in an English speaking nationdiscretion may be applied to allow entry where evidence is provided that an individual speaks competent English.

English Language Testing System

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Sikh ministers of religion have taken the International English Language Testing System certificate test this year.

Des Browne: International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is jointly managed by the University of Cambridge Local Examination Syndicate, the British Council and IDP Education Australia.
	We would only become aware of a person's IELTS qualification once an application to enter the United Kingdom under the Immigration Rules as a Minister of Religion had been made.

ICT Consultants

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for The Home Department how much the Department spent on outside information technology and communication specialist consultants and engineers in the 200304 financial year.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office does not hold central records on how much was spent on outside information communications and technology (ICT) specialist consultants and engineers in the financial year 200304. To obtain the information requested would incur disproportionate costs.
	The Home Office is currently addressing this problem with the implementation of an Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, Adelphi and Prison Service Phoenix, which will provide accurate management information on the Department's use of consultants and engineers.
	The use of specialist consultants and engineers in the Home Office and its agencies provides the Department with specialist knowledge, skill, capacity and technical expertise that is not otherwise available in House.
	Much technical ICT consultancy and engineering is provided by the Home Department's ICT service providers, notably in 200304 by EDS, Fujitsu, Siemens and Steria, as part of their overall service provision charge.

Identity Cards

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for The Home Department whether the identity card scheme will be covered by the Data Protection Act 1988.

Des Browne: The identity cards scheme will be covered by the Data Protection Act 1998.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were employed in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in (a) 199697 and (b) 200304.

Des Browne: In 199697 5,432 full-time equivalent staff were employed in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate; the figure for 200304 was 13,716.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken was at the latest available date for cases received by the Immigration and Nationality Department's Appeals Processing Centre, to be processed and sent to the Independent Appellate Authority.

Des Browne: Data on the average time between appeals being processed by the Appeals Processing Centre and the papers being sent out to the Immigration Appellate Authority is unavailable and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records.
	It is planned that performance against PSA targets relating to 200304, including those relating to the speed of processing, will be published in due course (once the data is judged sufficiently reliable) in the regular quarterly asylum statistics, a copy of which is available in the Library and from the Home Office's Research Development and Statistics website:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Immigration Officers

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the pay scales for immigration officers are.

Des Browne: The pay scales for immigration officers are as follows:
	
		
		
			  Minimum Target rate 
		
		
			 Inner London 18,757 23,930 
			 Gatwick 18,757 23,930 
			 National 18,380 23,449

Knives

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many attacks involving knives used by under-aged offenders the Leicestershire police authority has recorded in 2004.

Hazel Blears: This information is not collected centrally.

Manchester Airport

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received concerning the standard of immigration checks at Manchester Airport.

Des Browne: The Secretary of State has received no representations about the standard of immigration checks at Manchester Airport this year. There have been four formal complaints to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate about the conduct of immigration officials at Manchester Airport this year. In addition, immigration officials at Manchester Airport have received nine complaints about local procedures and issues, such as the standard of facilities, at the airport during that time.

Muslim Council

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his recent meetings with the Muslim Council.

Fiona Mactaggart: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary holds regular meetings, on a roughly quarterly basis, with the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain. These meetings enable the Home Secretary to keep abreast of issues relating to the safety and security of Muslim communities, their relations with other communities and progress in addressing concerns about equality and discrimination.
	The Government are keen to have good relations with all faith communities in the UK. The Home Secretary and his colleagues both in the Home Office and in other departments engage with members of faith communities in a number of ways and are always open to meetings with faith leaders and representatives.

Naturalisation

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for The Home Department what qualifications suffice for the purposes of establishing a sufficient knowledge of English for the purposes of an application for naturalisation.

Des Browne: holding answer 15 October 2004
	Any qualifications which establishes knowledge of English at a level equivalent to, or higher than ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) Entry 3, will be accepted as establishing a sufficient knowledge of English for naturalisation purposes.

Naturalisation

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for The Home Department when it will be possible for applicants for naturalisation to obtain a certificate from a designated person to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of English; and when he intends to publish the list of designated persons.

Des Browne: holding answer 15 October 2004
	They can do so now. The Home Office website indicates which people are designated to certify that a person is a native English speaker or has English language skills at a similar level. Notaries are currently designated for that purpose, and following discussions with their professional bodies, solicitors will shortly be added. Other professional groups may be added in due course.

EU Accession States

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many citizens from EU accession countries have registered with the workers' registration scheme; and what the five professions with the most registrations are.

Des Browne: I would refer my hon. Friend to my statement of 7 July 2004, Official Report, columns 3537WS, which sets out published (provisional) figures for May and June 2004. In May and June just under 20,000 applications to the Worker Registration Scheme were approved. The top five sectors were: hospitality and catering; administration, business and management; agriculture; manufacturing; and retail.
	Data for July, August and September will be published later this year.

Passports

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when free passports will be available to all over 75-years-old;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with the Treasury about the cost of providing concessionary passports to over 75-year-olds; and how the scheme will be funded.

Des Browne: My right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary announced on 13 October that the scheme to grant free passports to those who were 16 or over at the end of World War IIon 2 September 1945, will be implemented on Monday 18 October 2004.
	All British Nationals who were born on or before 2 September 1929 will be able to apply for their free passports from that date.
	The Home Office will fund the scheme this year, and will seek to recover the costs in future years from the general passport fee.
	We have no plans to issue free passports to all over 75-years-old on an ongoing basis.

Passports

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will implement his policy of free passports for the elderly; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from what date he intends to make passports for people over 75 years free of charge.

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when older pensioners will be able to apply for free passports.

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when free passports for people over 75 years will be introduced; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced on 13 October that the scheme to grant free passports to those who were 16 or over at the end of World War IIon 2 September 1945, will be implemented on Monday 18 October 2004.
	All British nationals who were born on or before 2 September 1929 will be able to apply for their free passports from that date.

Press Officers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his projection is of the number of press officers employed in his Department for 200405.

Fiona Mactaggart: The number of press officers is currently 39 and this is the projection of the total number that will be required for 200405.
	In 200304 the Press Office news desk answered 60,039 calls, and the Press Office issued 583 press notices and held 29 briefings for the media.

Racist Attacks

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many racist (a) attacks and (b) threats the Leicestershire police authority has recorded in 2004.

Hazel Blears: The available information relates 200304 and covers offences of racially or religiously aggravated less serious wounding and common assault. There were 101 offences of racially or religiously aggravated less serious wounding and 110 offences of racially or religiously aggravated common assault recorded in Leicestershire. Information on racist threats is not collected centrally.

Sikh Ministers of Religion

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Sikh Ministers of Religion have been denied entry to the UK this year.

Des Browne: Information on the number of Sikh Ministers of Religion denied entry to the UK is not available except by examination of individual case files at disproportionate cost.

Terrorism Act

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will give the reasons for the differences in the figures for the number of searches under section 44(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000 conducted in (a) England and Wales and (b) the Metropolitan Police district in 200203 given in the answer of 27 January 2004, Official Report, column 268W, and page 39 of the Home Office report Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System-2003;
	(2)  if he will give the reasons for the differences in the figures for the number of searches under section 44(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000 conducted in (a) England and Wales and (b) the Metropolitan Police district in 200102 given in the answer of 27 January 2004, Official Report, column 268W, and page 38 of the Home Office report Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System- 2003.

David Blunkett: The Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2003 report is concerned with detailing stop-searches by ethnicity, therefore, the number of stop-searches carried out on vehicles and not the occupants is omitted. The Home Office Statistical Bulletin, the source for the answer of 27 January, includes instances where the police have stop-searched just the vehicle and not any of the occupants.

Terrorism Act

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the reasons for the differences in the three figures for the number of searches under section 44(1) and (2) of the Terrorism Act 2000 conducted in Gloucestershire in 200203 as given in (a) the answer of 27 January 2004, Official Report, column 268W, (b) the answer of 6 February 2004, Official Report, column 1121W, on police and (c) page 37 of the Home Office report Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2003.

David Blunkett: The Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2003 report is concerned with detailing stop-searches by ethnicity, therefore the number of stop-searches carried out on vehicles and not the occupants is omitted. The Home Office Statistical Bulletin, the source for the answer of 27 January, includes instances where the police have stop-searched just the vehicle and not any of the occupants.
	I can confirm that the correct number of stop-searches under Section 44 (2) for the period is nil. The figure 299 was wrongly quoted in the response of 6 February due to an administrative error, for which I apologise. A breakdown of these figures from the Home Office Statistical Bulletin is shown in the following tables. This can be found on the Research and Statistics section of the Home Office website.
	
		Table 4.6: Total stop and searches under s44(1 and 2) of the Terrorism Act 2000 by ethnicity 200102 to 200203
		
			  White Black Asian 
			  200102 200203 200102 200203 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Bedfordshire 3 18 1 3 2 8 
			 Cambridgeshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cheshire 334 242 0 1 1 2 
			 Cleveland 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cumbria 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Derbyshire 10 0 0 0 2 0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 120 0 1 0 5 0 
			 Dorset 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Durham 0 0 0 0 3 0 
			 Essex 0 2 0 1 0 1 
			 Gloucestershire 28 511 1 0 2 2 
			 Greater Manchester 22 285 3 26 9 54 
			 Hampshire 12 245 0 4 0 24 
			 Hertfordshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Humberside 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Kent 255 57 0 6 2 14 
			 Lancashire 0 152 0 0 0 3 
			 Leicestershire 130 70 2 2 2 10 
			 Lincolnshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 City of London 2,715 3,377 232 477 220 422 
			 Merseyside 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Metropolitan police 2,038 8,359 258 1,175 459 2,241 
			 Norfolk 0 3 1 0 1 0 
			 Northamptonshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Northumbria 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North Yorkshire 3 71 0 4 5 35 
			 Nottinghamshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 South Yorkshire 58 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Staffordshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Suffolk 0 2 0 0 0 0 
			 Surrey 2 47 0 4 0 6 
			 Sussex 894 256 30 22 61 25 
			 Thames Valley 0 687 0 19 0 130 
			 Warwick 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 West Mercia 5 0 0 0 0 0 
			 West Midlands 0 25 0 1 0 10 
			 West Yorkshire 0 13 0 0 0 2 
			 Wiltshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Dyfed Powys 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Gwent 0 7 0 0 0 0 
			 North Wales 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 South Wales 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			
			 England and Wales 6,629 14,429 529 1,745 744 2,989 
		
	
	
		
			  Other Not recorded Total 
			  200102 200203 200102 200203 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Bedfordshire 2 1 0 1 8 31 
			 Cambridgeshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cheshire 2 6 43 11 380 262 
			 Cleveland 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cumbria 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Derbyshire 0 0 3 0 15 0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1 0 0 0 127 0 
			 Dorset 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Durham 0 0 0 0 3 0 
			 Essex 0 3 0 0 0 7 
			 Gloucestershire 0 1 1 380 32 894 
			 Greater Manchester 0 6 2 49 36 420 
			 Hampshire 0 15 0 4 12 292 
			 Hertfordshire 0 0 1 0 1 0 
			 Humberside 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Kent 0 45 0 11 257 133 
			 Lancashire 0 0 0 0 0 155 
			 Leicestershire 0 2 0 0 134 84 
			 Lincolnshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 City of London 181 326 146 0 3,494 4,602 
			 Merseyside 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Metropolitan police 152 770 56 698 2,963 13,243 
			 Norfolk 0 0 0 0 2 3 
			 Northamptonshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Northumbria 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North Yorkshire 0 0 0 0 8 110 
			 Nottinghamshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 South Yorkshire 0 0 0 0 58 0 
			 Staffordshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Suffolk 0 0 0 0 0 2 
			 Surrey 0 2 0 0 2 59 
			 Sussex 20 15 8 1 1,013 319 
			 Thames Valley 0 64 0 0 0 900 
			 Warwick 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 West Mercia 0 0 0 0 5 0 
			 West Midlands 0 0 0 0 0 36 
			 West Yorkshire 0 3 0 0 0 18 
			 Wiltshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Dyfed Powys 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Gwent 0 0 0 0 0 7 
			 North Wales 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 South Wales 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			
			 England and Wales 358 1,259 260 1155 8,550 21,577 
		
	
	
		Table P3: Searches of vehicles and occupants under section 44(1) and searches of pedestrians under section 44(2) of the Terrorism Act 2000 1 and resultant arrests, by police force areaEngland and Wales 200203 -- Numbers
		
			  Stops and searches of vehicles and occupants under 44(1) Stops and searches of pedestrians under 44(2) 
			 Police force area Searches Resultant arrests Searches Resultant arrests 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 
			 Bedfordshire 31 1   
			 Cambridgeshire 
			 Cheshire 302 4 18 3 
			 Cleveland 
			 Cumbria 
			 Derbyshire 
			 Devon and Cornwall 
			 Dorset 
			 Durham 
			 Essex 2  5  
			 Gloucestershire 898 3   
			 Greater Manchester 210 3 299 9 
			 Hampshire 256 8 38  
			 Hertfordshire 
			 Humberside 
			 Kent 67 28 74 1 
			 Lancashire 155
			 Leicestershire(16) 45
			 Lincolnshire 
			 London, City of 4,369 96 275 11 
			 Merseyside 
			 Metropolitan police 19,677 146 3,764 53 
			 Norfolk 5
			 Northamptonshire 
			 Northumbria 
			 North Yorkshire 110
			 Nottinghamshire 
			 South Yorkshire 105 2   
			 Staffordshire 
			 Suffolk 3
			 Surrey 31  36 1 
			 Sussex 113  238 3 
			 Thames Valley 900
			 Warwickshire 
			 West Mercia 
			 West Midlands 16 1 20 6 
			 West Yorkshire 18 1   
			 Wiltshire 
			 Dyfed Powys 
			 Gwent   7  
			 North Wales 
			 South Wales 
			 Total 27,313 293 4,774 87 
		
	
	(15) Formerly section 13A and 13B of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 and repealed under the Terrorism Act 2000 which came into force on 19 February 2001.
	(16) Stops and searches of vehicles and occupants and pedestrians are not separately identifiable.

Work Permits

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there are differences in the procedures for granting work permits from overseas in the public and the private and voluntary sectors.

Des Browne: There are no differences in the procedures for considering work permit applications for work in the public, private and voluntary sectors. All work permits applications pass through the same set of procedures irrespective of the sector from which the application is made.

Work Permits

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of (a) the time taken to process and (b) the success rate of applications for a permit to work in the (i) private and voluntary and (ii) public sector.

Des Browne: No assessment has been made. This information is not recorded centrally and could be obtained only by incurring disproportionate costs.

Youth Crime

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department is taking to tackle youth crime during the summer holiday period; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: As set out in the Home Office Strategic Plan, Confident Communities in a Secure Britain, published on 19 July, the Home Office works with other Departments to deliver a wide-ranging programme to tackle youth crime.
	This programme includes the Positive Activities for Young People programme which again this year provided a range of activities for young people, aged 8 to 19, during the school summer holidays in high crime areas. Over 75,000 young people benefited from the programme in 2003, and a similar level of provision was available this year.
	The Positive Activities for Young People programme is in addition to year round youth crime prevention activity, such as the Youth Inclusion Programme which at present targets the 13 to 16-year-olds assessed as being at greatest risk of criminality in 72 of the most deprived neighbourhoods in England and Wales. Following the SR2004 Spending Review we intend to increase the coverage of the Youth Inclusion Programme.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much revenue is projected to be raised from council tax in England in 200405.

Nick Raynsford: The total council tax requirement budgeted by local authorities and police and fire authorities in England for 200405 is 20.299 billion.

Council Tax

Jim Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much revenue from council tax each (a) London borough and (b) Metropolitan authority received in (i) 200304 and (ii) 200405.

Nick Raynsford: The information requested for 200304 is tabled as follows. The figures exclude amounts funded from council tax benefit.
	Comparable figures for 200405 will not be available until after the end of the financial year.
	
		 million
		
			  Council taxes received in 200304 irrespective of year to which they relate 
		
		
			 London boroughs (including City) 
			 Barking and Dagenham 38.932 
			 Barnet 131.787 
			 Bexley 80.858 
			 Brent 73.616 
			 Bromley 115.261 
			 Camden 79.391 
			 City of London 3.843 
			 Croydon 116.585 
			 Ealing 104.829 
			 Enfield 96.419 
			 Greenwich 63.872 
			 Hackney 49.198 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 65.696 
			 Haringey 69.630 
			 Harrow 89.279 
			 Havering 91.935 
			 Hillingdon 92.948 
			 Hounslow 78.341 
			 Islington 56.402 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 73.695 
			 Kingston upon Thames 67.088 
			 Lambeth 78.272 
			 Lewisham 70.024 
			 Merton 71.855 
			 Newham 46.358 
			 Redbridge 79.818 
			 Richmond upon Thames 98.364 
			 Southwark 67.077 
			 Sutton 68.499 
			 Tower Hamlets 45.387 
			 Waltham Forest 65.351 
			 Wandsworth 59.292 
			 Westminster 58.041 
			   
			 Metropolitan districts  
			 Barnsley 55.782 
			 Birmingham 223.307 
			 Bolton 74.189 
			 Bradford 114.899 
			 Bury 54.469 
			 Calderdale 58.533 
			 Coventry 81.007 
			 Doncaster 72.779 
			 Dudley 81.063 
			 Gateshead 54.971 
			 Kirklees 110.470 
			 Knowsley 31.217 
			 Leeds 181.776 
			 Liverpool 95.487 
			 Manchester 87.149 
			 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 69.425 
			 North Tyneside 58.810 
			 Oldham 61.301 
			 Rochdale 53.489 
			 Rotherham 66.935 
			 Salford 59.804 
			 Sandwell 64.976 
			 Sefton 84.882 
			 Sheffield 137.565 
			 Solihull 69.603 
			 South Tyneside 37.225 
			 St. Helens 49.753 
			 Stockport 99.190 
			 Sunderland 65.664 
			 Tameside 57.820 
			 Trafford 61.790 
			 Wakefield 82.307 
			 Walsall 71.121 
			 Wigan 84.807 
			 Wirral 98.504 
			 Wolverhampton 59.375 
		
	
	Source:
	QRC4 returns to ODPM

Council Tax

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discount on council tax is applicable for (a) second homes and (b) empty properties in each local authority area.

Nick Raynsford: Since 1 April this year, billing authorities have had the freedom to reduce council tax discounts for second homes in all or part of their area from 50 per cent. to between 10 per cent. and 50 per cent., and to reduce or remove the 50 per cent. discount for domestic properties in all or part of their area that have been empty for more than six months. Information on the actual use of these freedoms this year is currently being collected from local authorities. Figures are expected to be available early next year.

Council Tax

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will estimate the total council tax revenue (a) raised by local authorities from charging on empty homes in 200405 and (b) to be raised by local authorities from charging on empty homes in 200506.

Nick Raynsford: This information for 200405 is currently being collected from local authorities. An estimate is expected to be available in January.
	The information for 200506 is due to be collected in October and November 2005, and an estimate is expected to be available in January 2006.

Council Tax

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will estimate the total council tax revenue (a) raised by local authorities from charging on second homes in 200405 and (b) to be raised by local authorities from charging on second homes in 200506.

Nick Raynsford: Information that will allow the requested estimate to be made for 200405 is currently being collected from local authorities. An estimate is expected to be available early next year.
	Information that will allow the requested estimate to be made for 200506 is due to be collected in October and November 2005, and an estimate is expected to be available in early 2006.

Diego Garcians

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures he is taking to assist Reigate and Banstead Borough Council in housing and feeding the exiled Diego Garcians recently arrived from Mauritius; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: It is understood that Reigate and Banstead Borough Council are currently accommodating a number of persons recently arrived from Mauritius.
	Local housing authorities' obligations to provide temporary accommodation under the homelessness legislation apply principally in cases where the Council have a reason to believe that the applicants may be eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need. I understand that the recent arrivals from Mauritius were found by the Council to be ineligible for homelessness assistance on the basis that, despite being British citizens, they are persons from abroad who are not habitually resident. The Council originally decided not to exercise their power to provide them with accommodation pending an internal review of that decision. The decision is now the subject of judicial review proceedings and the Council are currently accommodating them pending the outcome of those proceedings.
	Local housing authorities are funded for the provision of homelessness services through revenue support grant and are expected to meet the costs of dealing with situations such as the need to provide housing support for small groups of migrants, or, as in the case of the Chagossians, the return of British citizens from abroad, from within existing provision.
	Reigate and Banstead Borough Council are a district council and do not have social services functions. District councils do not have a statutory obligation under housing legislation to meet the subsistence needs of homeless persons.

Diego Garcians

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received, and when, regarding the cost to Reigate and Banstead Borough Council of housing exiled Diego Garcians now resident in Horley; and what action he has taken.

Nick Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received one letter dated 19 October on this issue from the hon. Member. A reply will be given shortly.

High Hedges

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will produce the regulations under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.

Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 27 October 2004, Official Report, column 1301W.

Houses in Multiple Occupation

Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of three storey houses in multiple occupation in Wales that will not be subject to the mandatory HMO licensing scheme envisaged in the Housing Bill.

Keith Hill: No such estimates have been made by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister as these are matters for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

Houses in Multiple Occupation

Jon Trickett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of three-storey houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in England that will not be subject to the mandatory HMO licensing scheme envisaged in the Housing Bill.

Keith Hill: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Housing

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many empty homes there are in each (a) Inner London and (b) Outer London local authority.

Keith Hill: The latest information on empty dwellings in each local authority in inner and outer London is tabled as follows. This data has been provided from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's annual Housing Investment Programme returns and Housing Corporation's annual Regulatory Statistical returns, as reported by local authorities and registered social landlords respectively.
	
		Total number of vacant dwellings at 1 April 2004
		
			  Number of dwellings vacant 
		
		
			 London 99,890 
			 Inner London 47,329 
			 Camden 2,305 
			 City of London 40 
			 Hackney 3,757 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 2,180 
			 Haringey 2,883 
			 Islington 2,201 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 5,978 
			 Lambeth 3,769 
			 Lewisham 3,964 
			 Newham 2,779 
			 Southwark 4,480 
			 Tower Hamlets 6,430 
			 Wandsworth 2,545 
			 Westminster 4,018 
			 Outer London 52,561 
			 Barking and Dagenham 656 
			 Barnet 4,122 
			 Bexley 1,787 
			 Brent 5,104 
			 Bromley 5,296 
			 Croydon 4,942 
			 Baling 2,956 
			 Enfield 4,393 
			 Greenwich 3,287 
			 Harrow 1,631 
			 Havering 2,697 
			 Hillingdon 2,190 
			 Hounslow 1,778 
			 Kingston upon Thames (17) 
			 Merton (17) 
			 Redbridge 2,115 
			 Richmond upon Thames 687 
			 Sutton 2,356 
			 Waltham Forest 3,39 
		
	
	(17) Data not known or available.
	Source:
	ODPM's Housing Investment Programme returns and Housing Corporation's Regulatory Statistical returns.

Local Authority Income

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total net income of local authorities in England is projected to be for 200405.

Nick Raynsford: The projected total net income for all local authorities in England in 200405 is 78,711 million. This figure is as reported by local authorities and is taken from the revenue account (RA) budget form for 200405.
	The net income figure is calculated as the sum of police grant, revenue support grant, redistributed non-domestic rates, general Greater London authority (GLA) grant, special and specific grants inside aggregate external finance (AEF) and the council tax requirement. It excludes any income from sales, fees and charges.

Local Authority Income

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much (a) North East Lincolnshire council and (b) North Lincolnshire council received in Government grant in (i) cash and (ii) real terms in each year since each council was established; and by how much in real terms the grant changed in each of those years.

Nick Raynsford: The amount of Government grant North East Lincolnshire council and North Lincolnshire council has received in (i) cash and (ii) real terms each year since 199697 and the real terms percentage change is tabled as follows.
	
		000
		
			  North East Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire 
			  Cash Real terms Real percentage terms change Cash Real terms Real percentage terms change 
		
		
			 199697 101,899 123,891  91,583 111,349  
			 199798 102,620 121,645 -1.8 94,622 112,165 0.7 
			 199899 109,554 126,228 3.8 97,542 112,387 0.2 
			 19992000 117,798 132,830 5.2 100,972 113,857 1.3 
			 200001 126,909 141,462 6.5 109,688 122,266 7.4 
			 200102 137,538 149,503 5.7 115,957 126,045 3.1 
			 200203 144,007 151,439 1.3 126,042 132,547 5.2 
			 200304 154,867 158,441 4.6 137,020 140,182 5.8 
			 200405 166,272 166,272 4.9 139,028 139,028 -0.8 
		
	
	The data shown, as reported by the local authority, are outturn figures for all years except 200304 and 200405 which are budget estimates.
	Government grants is defined here in terms of Revenue Support Grant, SSA Reduction Grant, Police Grant, Central Support Protection Grant and the distributed amount from non-domestic pool i.e. Formula Grant, plus specific and special grants within Aggregate External Finance (AEF).
	The figures have been revalued for previous years at 200405 prices using the latest GDP deflators.
	The data have been taken from returns made by local authorities and so do not allow for transfers of funding and function. In particular the figures for 200304 and earlier years include funding for Fire where as the 200405 figures exclude such funding which now goes directly to the combined fire authority.

Local Government Finance

Lembit �pik: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to link tax with income to fund local government; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: The Government has appointed Sir Michael Lyons to undertake an independent inquiry that will consider, in the light of the report by the Balance of Funding Review, the detailed case for changes to the present system of local government funding and make recommendations on any changes that are necessary and how to implement them. The inquiry will, among other things, make recommendations on how best to reform council tax, taking into account the forthcoming revaluation of domestic property and conduct thorough analysis of options other than council tax for local authorities to raise supplementary revenue, including local income tax, reform of non-domestic rates and other possible local taxes and charges, as well as the possible combination of such options.

Local Government Pension Scheme

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total cost was in the financial year 200203 of the employers' contribution to the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Phil Hope: The total cost of the employers' contributions to the Local Government Pension Scheme in 200203 was 2.91 billion.

Manufacturing (Glass)

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the number of planning applications for new glass container manufacturing plants in England since 2000; and what the estimated output of each new plant is.

Keith Hill: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Ministerial Travel

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his journey to and from the studio for the BBC's Politics Show on 24 October incurred public expenditure.

Phil Hope: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister's journey was conducted in accordance with Travel by Ministers.

New Deal

Julian Lewis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many personnel the Department has recruited under the New Deal in each of the past five years.

Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, West (Ruth Kelly) on Monday 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1052W.

Park Homes

Ken Purchase: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent representations he has had from park home site owners; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has recently consulted on our proposals to follow up the provisions on park homes in the Housing Bill through subsequent secondary legislation. These are aimed at strengthening the contractual terms which are implied by law and which form part of the agreements that allow park home occupiers to place a park home on site and occupy it.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently analysing the 300 or so replies received, and will consider laying the necessary order once the Bill receives Royal Assent.

Park-and-ride Schemes

David Atkinson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his Department's latest guidance is on proposed developments on designated green belt land, with particular reference to proposals for park and ride schemes.

Keith Hill: National planning policy on development in the green belt is set out in Planning Policy Guidance note (PPG) 2. Policy on park and ride schemes is set out in PPG 13 (2001) on transport. This, at Annex E, updated PPG2 to take account of park and ride schemes. The key elements are that green belt locations should only be chosen where they are the most sustainable option, and they will not seriously compromise the purposes of including land in the green belt. Park and ride proposals which fail to satisfy these and the other criteria set out in PPG2 (as amended by PPG13) will be inappropriate development.

Planning (Port Sunlight)

Ben Chapman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received on planning proposals at Port Sunlight.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received five letters from local residents who are opposed to proposals for housing development at Port Sunlight. Those proposals are currently the subject of planning applications which are before Wirral metropolitan borough council.

Reviews (Lancashire and Chorley)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the implications of the (a) Gershon Review and (b) Spending Review on the budgets of (i) Lancashire county council and (ii) Chorley borough council.

Nick Raynsford: The Government looked with local authorities in the context of the Spending Review 2004 (SR04) at the pressures councils face up to 200708, along with the scope for efficiency savings. SR04 provides continued investment in local government services with 7.2 billion more in general grant for local government programmes by 200708 over 200405. The Gershon Review's expectation is each authority creates efficiency gains from existing budgets of at least 2.5 per cent., at least half of which is cashable. There will be no impact on authorities' overall budgets as there is no intention to increase or reduce planned budgets as a result of implementing the review. Efficiency gains made by each authority can be re-invested into front line local services. The provisional local government finance settlement for 200506 will be announced shortly which will be followed by a consultation period where authorities will be able to make written representations on the Government's proposals.

Social Housing

Alan Campbell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many properties are available for rent from Housing Associations in each local authority area in Tyne and Wear; and how many were available in 1997.

Keith Hill: Housing Association properties available for rent in each local authority area in Tyne and Wear in 2003, and 1997, are tabled as follows:
	
		
			 Local authority 2003 1997 
		
		
			 Gateshead 4,441 4,374 
			 Newcastle 7,365 7,595 
			 North Tyneside 4,921 4,529 
			 South Tyneside 4,135 4,138 
			 Sunderland 39,145 4,711 
		
	
	Note:
	Latest available Government figures.
	Source:
	Regulatory Statistical Return (RSR), Part O.

Social Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average price of a 25 per cent. stake in a (a) one-bedroom, (b) two-bedroom and (c) three-bedroom shared ownership property in (i) Tower Hamlets, (ii) the East London sub-region, (iii) London and (iv) England was in the latest year for which figures are available; and what the average (A) rent and (B) service charge was on the 75 per cent. stake held by the registered social landlord in each instance.

Keith Hill: The table shows the average price of a 25 per cent. stake, together with the average rent and service charges for the 75 per cent. stake held by the registered social landlord, broken down by the number of bedrooms, in Tower Hamlets, the East London sub-region, London and England in 200304.
	
		Shared ownership sales during 200304
		
			  Number of sales Average price of 25 per cent. stake purchased () Monthly rent () Monthly service charges () 
		
		
			 One bedroom 
			 Tower Hamlets 0
			 East London 8 35,844 283.72 48.32 
			 London 77 47,151 281.15 71.18 
			 England 121 38,268 241.72 68.34 
			 Two bedrooms 
			 Tower Hamlets 1 68,750 179.43 0.00 
			 East London 29 52,858 340.19 85.80 
			 London 117 54,076 332.78 76.48 
			 England 280 41,126 262.22 51.57 
			 Three bedrooms 
			 Tower Hamlets 0
			 East London 17 58,632 400.40 54.62 
			 London 35 55,957 355.02 40.94 
			 England 117 41,603 272.41 25.99 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Because the buyer took a 25 per cent. stake the average price paid by the buyer represents one-quarter of the property.
	2. The figures include the following schemes: Do-It-Yourself Shared Ownership, Shared Ownership for the Elderly, Leasehold Schemes for the Elderly, Ordinary Shared Ownership Schemes.
	3. East London sub-region is an amalgamation of the London boroughs of: Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest.
	Source:
	Housing Corporation, CORE sales

Youth Services (London)

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average expenditure per capita of each London borough on youth services was in each year since 199697; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested is contained within the following table:
	
		Average net current expenditure per capita by each London LEA on youth services since 199697
		
			 LEA name 199697 199798 199899 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 City of London 428 337 371 749 195 623 565 
			 Camden 159 137 151 188 253 200 225 
			 Greenwich 100 99 115 130 141 143 143 
			 Hackney 107 79 70 96 0 1 52 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 124 143 105 160 155 91 92 
			 Islington 279 293 241 410 312 323 276 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 412 425 313 513 517 442 413 
			 Lambeth 82 92 92 94 123 174 269 
			 Lewisham 77 92 89 109 127 140 112 
			 Southwark 189 197 207 129 163 154 141 
			 Tower Hamlets 228 207 194 186 205 207 183 
			 Wandsworth 177 171 185 186 187 186 196 
			 Westminster 225 226 181 165 155 175 134 
			 Barking and Dagenham 100 94 90 80 64 61 60 
			 Barnet 60 63 75 94 64 59 50 
			 Bexley 64 65 81 89 96 86 87 
			 Brent 116 105 107 97 101 95 79 
			 Bromley 40 42 46 53 55 55 41 
			 Croydon 65 62 66 73 104 107 110 
			 Ealing 41 38 43 48 71 69 54 
			 Enfield 34 40 42 43 43 39 40 
			 Haringey 72 65 84 73 91 103 107 
			 Harrow 55 39 43 41 46 44 46 
			 Havering 47 57 64 71 78 87 68 
			 Hillingdon 80 75 82 72 75 76 60 
			 Hounslow 53 52 62 50 46 50 42 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames 54 54 49 55 60 66 73 
			 Merton 40 36 39 54 51 46 43 
			 Newham 94 95 75 69 69 98 123 
			 Redbridge 65 56 62 71 86 88 76 
			 Richmond-upon-Thames 75 74 77 62 66 55 61 
			 Sutton 88 81 84 80 80 78 78 
			 Waltham Forest 97 101 114 105 114 95 105 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data are collected at local education authority (LEA) level. Included here are the data for all London LEAs.
	2. Recorded here is expenditure in relation to the authority's youth service. This includes provision at residential and non-residential youth centres, including activity, outdoor and urban studies centres related to youth service provision. Also includes development workers, advisors and youth leaders not based at youth centres. This excludes any capital expenditure.
	3. The expenditure data to 199899 are drawn from the annual 'RO1' spending returns which local authorities submitted to the ODPM. Figures for 19992000 to 200102 were drawn from section 52 (table 3) outturn statements which LEAs submitted to the DfES. Figures for 200203 are taken from section 52 (table A) outturn statements.
	4. The priority age group for youth services is 1319 (although youth services can also provide support for targeted groups in the 11 to 13 and 19 to 25 age ranges). In order to provide a figure for expenditure per capita on youth services we have divided each London LEA's net current expenditure on youth services by the total population aged 1319 within that authority. The population figures are estimated resident mid year population figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and these have recently been revised following the 2001 Census. Thus for financial year 199697 we have used the population estimate from mid year 1996 and for 199798 we used the mid 1997 estimate (and so on).
	5. Data (cash terms) are as reported by the LEA at 24 October 2004.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the expected crop of opium poppies in Afghanistan in 2004 is, expressed in (a) area of land cultivated and (b) tonnes of opium produced.

Bill Rammell: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime will publish on 4 November its annual survey into the level of opium poppy cultivation and production in Afghanistan. The figures are not yet available. However, we anticipate a significant increase in cultivation levels this year. Increases in production may be proportionally lower given lower yields due to drought and disease.
	As lead nation on counter narcotics in Afghanistan, co-ordinating international assistance, the UK works closely with the Afghan Government to support delivery of the Afghan National Drug Control Strategy. We have committed more than 70 million over three years for counter narcotics activity plus significant development funding and support for alternative livelihoods. We will be looking to increase that activity over the coming year and are also encouraging the international community to do more in order to achieve a reduction in cultivation next year.

Angola

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom's relations with Angola.

Chris Mullin: The UK has good relations with Angola. I met the Angola Finance Minister in April 2004. My right hon. Friend the International Development Secretary met Angola's Minister for Assistance and Social Reintegration in London on 17 March. We have worked closely with Angola for the last two years in the Security Council. The UK, through the Department for International Development, provided 9.4 million in bilateral assistance in 2003/2004.

Cayman Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the executive body of the Cayman Islands relating to illicit drug trafficking.

Bill Rammell: The UK adopted a Security Co-operation Plan with CARICOM partners, of which the Cayman Islands is an associate member, when I visited Jamaica on 20 October. We already fund a regional maritime training initiative that encompasses the Cayman Islands.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  when he will reply to the letter to him dated 6 September 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Usman Ilyas and Mrs. Iram Usman;
	(2)  when he will reply to the letter to him dated 6 September 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Ilyas;
	(3)  when he will answer the letter to him dated 6 September 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. Ilyas.

Chris Mullin: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied on 20 October 2004.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  when he will reply to the letter to him dated 1 September 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Abdul Rauf;
	(2)  when he will answer the letter to him dated 1 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. Abdul Rauf.
	(3)  when he will reply to the letter to him dated 23 August from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms Saira Asif;
	(4)  when he will answer the letter to him dated 23 August from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Ms Saira Asif.

Chris Mullin: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied on 29 October.

Correspondence

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when UKvisas intends to reply to the letters dated (a) 14 July regarding Mr. M. A., ref ISB/725541, (b) 16 July regarding Mr. M. A., Yemen, ref 301/04, (c) 4 August regarding Ms H. E. and (d) 19 August regarding Mrs. R O, ref GV 100/83235.

Chris Mullin: The information is as follows:
	UKvisas had no trace of having received my hon. Friend's letter of 14 July, regarding Mr. M. A. UKvisas has since obtained a copy of this letter and a reply was sent on 28 October.
	UKvisas replied to my hon. Friend's letter of 16 July, regarding Mr. M. A., on 8 September.
	UKvisas replied to my hon. Friend's letter of 4 August, regarding Ms H. E., on 28 October.
	UKvisas replied to my hon. Friend's letter of 19 August, regarding Mrs. R. O., on 14 September.
	Further copies of UKvisas' letters of 8 and 14 September were sent to my hon. Friend on 28 October.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will answer the letter to him dated 14 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Pastor D. Lindsay.

Chris Mullin: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied on 29 October.

Cuba

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made by the UK Government to the Cuban Government for the release of (a) Jorge Perez (Autunez) and (b) Dr. Biscet.

Bill Rammell: We regularly raise human rights casesincluding these twowith the Cuban authorities in London and in Havana. We have been monitoring their situation and health, and embassy staff maintain close contacts with local human rights groups involved in their cases and with friends and family of the individuals. Dr. Biscet visited the embassy in November 2002 shortly before his arrest, and the Embassy last met his wife, Elsa Morejon, on 14 July. We are aware of considerable public interest in the fate of both prisoners.
	UK policy on Cuba is governed by the EU Common Position, which has human rights enshrined as its key principle and which was reaffirmed on 14 June. The EU regularly issues statements condemning the imprisonment of human rights activists and other political prisoners.

Diego Garcia

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of exiled Diego Garcians who have been granted British citizenship with the right to reside in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: There are no precise figures but it is estimated that there are about 5,000 Chagossians who enjoy British citizenship with the right of abode in the UK following the coming into force of the British Overseas Territories Act in May 2002. Since then, the British High Commissions in Mauritius and Seychelles have issued more than 900 British passports to Chagossians.

EU-Israel Association Agreement

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 20 October 2004, Official Report, column 753W, on the EU-Israel Association Agreement, whether Israel is in full compliance with the human rights conditions of the EU Israel Association Agreement; whether there is an equivalent trade agreement with the Palestinian Authority; and what the official (a) UK and (b) EU definition of sanctions is.

Denis MacShane: Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement states that Relations between the Parties, as well as the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement.
	We have raised our concerns about Israeli actions on human rights grounds with the Israeli Government both bilaterally and through the EU. Following the recent violence in Gaza, EU Foreign Ministers, at the 11 October General Affairs and External Relations Council, condemned the disproportionate nature of the Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip. The EU has also regularly raised issues of concern, including human rights, at EU/Israel Association Councils.
	I can confirm that an interim trade agreement with the PLO has been agreed and is in force.
	Neither the UK nor the EU uses a particular definition of sanctions in the context of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. However, Article 79 of the EU/Israel Association Agreement provides that a Party may take appropriate measures where either Party considers that the other Party has failed to fulfil an obligation under the Agreement.

European Trade Agreements

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the main (a) logistical and (b) institutional obstacles to the implementation of (i) Europe agreements with the countries of central and eastern Europe and (ii) free-trade agreements with the Baltic States addressed by the committee on the arrangements for implementing Europe agreements with the countries of central and eastern Europe and free-trade agreements with the Baltic States during the Greek presidency of the EU; which of these were brought to the attention of the committee by the UK Government expert present; what recommendations the committee made for each; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 26 October 2004, Official Report, column 1175W.
	Under the Greek presidency, various EU bodies handled Europe agreements with countries with whom accession negotiations were underway.
	Information on these discussions is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportional cost.

Human Rights Annual Report

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes have been made to the text of the Annual Report on Human Rights since the decision to delay publication.

Bill Rammell: The text of the Annual Report is changed and updated throughout its editorial and publication process, which usually begins in January and ends in September. Owing to the tragic events in Beslan, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary decided to delay the launch of the Annual Report which was originally due to be held on 16 September. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has subsequently updated the text of the Annual Report to reflect the tragedy in Beslan. There have been no other significant changes to the text. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not delayed publication of the Annual Report on Human Rights to dilute criticism of any country. The Foreign Secretary will launch the Annual Report on Human Rights on 10 November.

Iraq

David Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of meetings of the Iraqi National Security Committee have been attended by a British representative.

Bill Rammell: The Iraqi Ministerial Committee for National Security, the MCNS, issues strategic policy direction and guidance on national security issues. It is chaired by Prime Minister Allawi. It is always attended by a senior British diplomat, usually now Ambassador Chaplin.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information was provided by the United Kingdom to United Nations Security Council members on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction prior to the vote on UNSC Resolution 1441 on 8th November 2002; what steps were taken to test the reliability of this information prior to passing it on to other UNSC members; and what steps he has taken to correct inaccuracies in this information following the publication of the Iraq Survey Group report.

Denis MacShane: The Government made available its September 2002 dossier to members of the Security Council to inform them of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programmes prior to the vote on UN Security Council Resolution 1441. The dossier was compiled by the Joint Intelligence Committee following analysis of intelligence available to it at the time.
	The genesis of the dossier, and the background information that formed its basis was examined in detail by the review headed by Lord Butler of Brockwell. Following further investigation by the SIS in the light of Lord Butler's conclusions, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary announced in a written statement to the House on 12 October 2004, Official Report, column 14WS, the formal withdrawal of the lines of intelligence relating to the 45 minute claim and Iraqi production of biological agent.

Iraq

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 13 October 2004, Official Report, column 306W, on Iraq, if he will request US authorities to furnish him with a copy of the (a) terms of reference and (b) findings of the investigation; and if he will place copies in the Library.

Bill Rammell: This is a matter for the US military authorities. The UK is not party to this investigation. We have asked the US military authorities in Baghdad for a copy of the investigation report. We will place a copy in the Library of the House provided the US security classification of the report permits this.

New Agenda Coalition

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have been held with members of the New Agenda Coalition in advance of the Non-Proliferation Review Conference in 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The Government regularly includes discussions of nuclear non-proliferation in its bilateral contacts with New Agenda Coalition countries. In that context, we make clear that we are fully committed to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and emphasise the importance of full compliance with the Treaty by all States Party. We also express our desire to see the immediate resumption of substantive work at the Conference on Disarmament, starting with the negotiation of a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty.

Non-proliferation Treaty

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have been held with Iran on (a) the inspection of nuclear facilities and (b) its policy on the Non-Proliferation Treaty; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: Senior officials from the UK, France and Germany held discussions with Iranian counterparts in Vienna on 21 and 27 October on a range of nuclear issues.

Non-proliferation Treaty

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have been held by officials of his Department with (a) North Korea, (b) India, (c) Pakistan and (d) Israel on the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York in 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: There have been no discussions by officials with North Korea, India, Pakistan or Israel on the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference to be held in New York in 2005. However, non-proliferation issues form a regular part of our continuing dialogue with all four states.

Non-proliferation Treaty

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to publish a statement of the UK Government's aspirations for the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in 2005.

Denis MacShane: At this time, the Government have no plans to publish a statement of their aspirations for the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2005. However, the Government are strongly committed to the NPT, which is the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. The UK's goals for the review conference are to make the case for stronger and more effective counter-proliferation measures and to emphasise the importance of compliance with the treaty. We will do this in the context of emphasising the UK's good record on nuclear disarmament, and we will produce a final report of the studies that we have conducted on the verification of nuclear disarmament. We look forward to working with the chair and other countries before and during the Conference itself to help secure a successful outcome.

Non-proliferation Treaty

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who the members of the UK delegation to the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in 2005 will be.

Denis MacShane: Current plans are that the UK delegation to the 2005 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference will be headed by ambassador John Freeman, the United Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. He will be accompanied by officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Trade and Industry.

People's Mojahedin Organisation

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 September 2004, Official Report, column 1617, on the People's Mojahedin Organisation, what information has been passed to the UK Government about the status of the residents of Camp Ashraf, with particular reference to the activities of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran personnel; whether this information has been passed to the Secretary of State for the Home Department; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The situation of the residents of Camp Ashraf was until 28 June a matter for the US authorities. The Iraqi Interim Government (IIG) is now responsible for Ashraf. With the concurrence of the IIG, US forces continue to provide security there. The US has informed us that most residents are being treated as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention, some have unresolved claims to be Prisoners of War from the Iran/Iraq war, and a small number are the subject of US or international warrants. The IIG, US and other interested parties are continuing to discuss practical arrangements for their future.
	The Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK, or People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran) is proscribed in the UK under the Terrorism Act 2000. We take a close interest in the activities of MEK personnel, and have discussed them on many occasions with foreign Governments, including those of Iran, Iraq and the US. FCO and Home Office officials are in regular contact about the MEK.

Special Advisers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many unpaid special advisers the Department has; what their names are; and which Government (a) bodies, (b) committees and (c) strategy groups each unpaid adviser (i) belongs to, (ii) advises and (iii) works alongside.

Jack Straw: None. My noble Friend the Lord Carter of Coles is heading a review of public diplomacy work and has assisted in reviewing efficiency in the Department. He is unpaid, but does not have the status or role of special adviser.

Sudan

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the effect that China's economic interests in Sudan might have on China's position in relation to an UN Security Council resolution calling for oil sanctions against Sudan.

Bill Rammell: China made clear that it opposed the threat of oil sanctions and gave reasons for its position in its explanation of vote during the adoption of resolutions 1556 and 1564, copies of which I have placed in the Library of the House.

Sudan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the (a) implementation and (b) effects of the concept of safe areas in the August Plan of Action agreed by the United Nations and the Sudanese Government.

Chris Mullin: The concept of areas of enhanced security, or safe areas, agreed by the United Nations and the Government of Sudan in the August Plan of Action, was envisaged as an initial basis on which to improve the overall security situation in Darfur. The United Nations Special Representative to the Secretary-General, Jan Pronk, reported throughout August and September that security in the camps had improved, although overall insecurity continued to be a major problem due to violations of the ceasefire by all sides and continuing banditry. The expanded African Union mission will help facilitate improvements in security for the whole of Darfur.

Sudan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Sudan on direct and indiscriminate attacks by Government forces on civilians and civilian objects.

Chris Mullin: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister raised the continuing insecurity and ceasefire violations with President Bashir and First Vice President Taha during his visit to Sudan on 6 October. He made clear that the fighting must stop and that there can be no impunity for the grave crimes against humanity which have been committed in Darfur. There is an urgent need to deploy the expanded AU mission as soon as possible in order to address the continuing insecurity in Darfur. The UK has allocated 12 million to support this. We have also impressed on the rebels the need to abide by the ceasefire and cease attacks on aid workers.

Sudan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Sudan about the case for amending Article 3 of its National Security Forces Act.

Chris Mullin: Our embassy in Khartoum has made regular representations to the Government of Sudan on the need to repeal the National Security Forces Act. Article 3 of this Act defines the various bodies referred to in the text: we have made no representations on this specific article. Article 33, however, deals with the criminal trials of members or agents of the National Security Forces. We have made very clear to the Government of Sudan that there can be no impunity for any crimes against humanity or violations of human rights perpetrated in Darfur, or elsewhere. The International Commission of Inquiry will investigate reports of violations of human rights in Darfur and identify the perpetrators, with a view to ensuring those responsible are held accountable.

Sudan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Sudan about the need to amend the decrees instituting the special courts or specialised criminal courts in Darfur to ensure their fair trial without the possibility of the death penalty or cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments.

Chris Mullin: Our embassy in Khartoum follows cases that pass through these courts and raises, both bilaterally and through the EU-Sudan dialogue, our concerns with the Sudanese Government, focusing not only on the sentences passed but also the lack of due legal process and the right to a fair trial. The Government of Sudan have given assurances that no death and cross-amputation sentences have been carried out since the creation of the specialised courts on 31 March 2004. However, there are no reliable means of verifying this. We continue to press for the specialised courts to be removed and the full rights of appeal to be made available.

Sudan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Sudan about the need to ensure that victims of past human rights violations have access to redress.

Chris Mullin: During my visit in September, I raised with the Government of Sudan the need for reparations to be made to the victims and families of victims of human rights violations. I also stressed the importance of rapid progress on the comprehensive peace agreement: this provides that the parties will initiate a process of national reconciliation throughout the country, based on mechanisms to be worked out by the Government of National Unity.

Sudan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Sudan on ensuring that investigations into alleged war crimes in the country include (a) forensic examinations of graves, (b) a systematic documentation of sexual violence and rape, (c) compilation of lists of people killed and (d) mapping of villages that have been destroyed.

Chris Mullin: There are several mechanisms deployed across Darfur to monitor allegations of violations of human rights and extra-judicial killings. These include the National Darfur Investigation Committee, three Rape Committees, the African Union Ceasefire Monitoring Commission, the International Commission of Inquiry and UK-funded human rights monitors from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Recent visits by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, facilitated by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, also documented human rights violations in Darfur. Their reports are available online.

Sudan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assurances he has received from the Government of Sudan about the centrality of human rights in the peace talks in Naivasha, Kenya and Abuja, Nigeria.

Chris Mullin: Respect for the rights of internally displaced persons and refugees, together with measures to ensure that violators of those rights are held accountable, are central to the Humanitarian Protocol negotiated by the parties in the Abuja peace talks. On 6 October, the Government of Sudan gave its commitment to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to immediately and unilaterally implement this protocol.
	The Protocol on Power Sharing, agreed by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Naivasha in May 2004, commits the parties to comply in full with their obligations under international human rights treaties to which they are, or become, a party. The Protocol also provides for the establishment of a National Human Rights Commission.

Sudan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Sudan about the need to ensure the participation of women in the peace process.

Chris Mullin: We regularly remind the Government of Sudan and the rebel groups of the need for the peace processes to be as fully inclusive as possible. The equal right of men and women to all civil, political and fundamental human rights is one of the principles set down in the power sharing protocol agreed between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, in Naivasha, Kenya in May 2004.

Sudan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of progress in disarming and disbanding the Janjaweed militias, including those members who have been incorporated into the Popular Defence Forces, the People's Police and other paramilitary forces.

Chris Mullin: In August, the Government of Sudan claimed to have disarmed 30 per cent. of the Popular Defence Forces, although this could not be independently verified. The September report of the UN Special Representative made clear that not enough progress had been made on disarmament of militias or on security issues. The Government of Sudan has committed itself to further disarmament of the Popular Defence Forces, its allied militias and the Janjaweed. The expansion of the African Union monitoring mission will allow independent verification of disarmament by both the Government of Sudan and the rebel groups.

Sudan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people in Darfur who are suspected of violations of international human rights or humanitarian law have been removed from posts in the (a) army, (b) judiciary, (c) police and (d) civil service.

Chris Mullin: Exact figures for the number of officials removed from their posts in Darfur are not available. However, the Government of Sudan has provided our embassy in Khartoum with numbers of armed forces and National Security Forces personnel tried and convicted there between January and June 2004 of crimes under various articles of the criminal act.
	These figures show that in Darfur, 24 members of the armed forces were either tried and convicted or were awaiting trial as of 31 May 2004 for crimes under Article 130 of the Criminal Act. 28 members of the National Security Forces were tried for various offences in the same period, 25 of whom were convicted.
	The Government of Sudan also informed our embassy that, as of 31 May 2004, 266 members of the police force were under investigation for various crimes.

Sudan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Sudan about the need to train the country's police in international human rights standards.

Chris Mullin: During my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's visit to Khartoum on 6 October, the Government of Sudan agreed to a civilian police monitoring role as part of the expanded African Union mission in Darfur. Various UN agencies have also started to establish training programmes in humanitarian and human rights law for the Government of Sudan police force.
	The UK's Department for International Development, together with the UN Joint Assessment Missions, has been engaged with the Government of Sudan and Sudan People's Liberation Movement on the issue of police training following the successful completion of a peace deal. This would include the mainstreaming of human rights training and increased accountability within the police forces.

Sudan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the monitoring mission of the African Union in Sudan.

Chris Mullin: The current African Union (AU) mission of approximately 150 military observers is now carrying out regular investigations into alleged violations of the ceasefire agreement. The information from these investigations helps the international community to monitor the situation on the ground and to hold the parties to account for their activities. The AU's strategy is to use monitoring to reduce the scope for the parties to the ceasefire to violate it with impunity.
	However we have been pressing for some time for a larger, and better-equipped mission which could have a more direct impact on the ground in terms of improving the security situation, and building confidence. This is why we fully support the planned expansion of the mission and have allocated 12 million for this purpose.

UN Relief and Works Agency

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the UN on the statement made by the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that UNRWA employs Hamas members.

Bill Rammell: We have not raised this matter formally with the United Nations, but British officials in New York have discussed the issue with other UN Security Council members and the UN Secretary-General. Kofi Annan has stated that although the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) could not question its staff about their political affiliations, the UN is fastidious about their behaviour, insisting that all employees act in accordance with the established principles and practices of the UN.
	The UK provides funding to UNRWA and supports its work, which includes delivery of essential relief supplies to civilian communities in Gaza.

Uzbekistan

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases of torture have been brought to his Department's attention in the last 10 years in (a) Uzbekistan and (b) all countries.

Bill Rammell: We receive reports of incidents of torture and human rights abuses from various sources, including individuals and NGOs, from all over the world, including Uzbekistan. The UK has a strong record, in conjunction with international partners, of acting on such reports.
	We do not keep lists of all reported incidents of torture we receive. However, the Government have published an Annual Report on Human Rights since 1997. It provides an overview of the main challenges to human rights around the world, including torture, and explains the Government's overall activities and policies to address those challenges, in both bilateral and multilateral contexts. The report incorporates comments and recommendations we receive over the year from the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and from a number of NGOs.
	The report has been critical of Uzbekistan's human rights record and we shall be equally forthright in the 2004 report when it is published in November.

Uzbekistan

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he received on (a) promoting democracy and (b) eradicating human rights abuses in Uzbekistan.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office monitors and takes action on reports of human rights abuse in Uzbekistan as well as lobbying the Uzbek Government to introduce democratic reform. We benefit from a regular dialogue with NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, both at Ministerial and at official level, in London.
	We also have frequent, informal contact with local NGOs in Uzbekistan. We receive reports from and have regular consultations with organisations such as the Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Defenders of Uzbekistan and Mothers against the Death Penalty and Torture, as well as from families and other human rights defenders. Our Embassy in Tashkent has also received representations from independent political parties regarding registration and the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
	We value the NGO expertise we receive concerning Uzbekistan and will continue to be in regular contact with the NGO community on issues of human rights and democracy there in the future. As an example of this, our Embassy in Tashkent is funding an NGO Registration and Capacity Building Project to improve the capacity of local independent human rights NGOs in Uzbekistan.

Water Supply (Iraq/Turkey)

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has initiated between Iraq, Syria and Turkey on water supply issues.

Denis MacShane: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not initiated any discussions between Iraq, Syria and Turkey on water supply issues.

Water Supply (Iraq/Turkey)

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the relevance of international treaties covering water supply issues to the dispute between Iraq and Turkey over water.

Denis MacShane: There is a longstanding dispute over the distribution of water resources between Iraq and Turkey. A committee was set up in 1983 between Iraq, Turkey and Syria to agree an equitable water-sharing arrangement but it has not met for a number of years. Modern international law provides few specific guidelines to resolve water-sharing disputes. Turkey is not a signatory of the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not carried out a detailed assessment of the relevance of international treaties covering water supply issues to the dispute between Iraq and Turkey over water.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Alternative Fuels

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much funding the Government have given to investigations into alternative fuels for transport in the last year; and how much they plan to invest in research and development of alternative fuels for transport in each of the next five years.

David Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government have in place a large number of programmes to help fund the research, development and demonstration of low carbon vehicles and fuels. Details of some of the most significant programmes are set out in the Second Annual Report of the Powering Future Vehicles Strategy, published in October 2004 and available on the Department for Transport's website. Over 1 million of spending on programmes in the financial year 200304 was specifically for alternative fuels for transport.

Brumark Case

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether she plans to change the statement on behalf of Crown Departments relating to the Brumark case to take account of National Westminster Bank plc. v. Spectrum.

Gerry Sutcliffe: No. The case of National Westminster Bank plc. v. Spectrum is still finally to be determined and is subject to an appeal to the House of Lords.

Car Repair Industry

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) government and (b) non-government schemes have been introduced to monitor the motor car repair industry in the past 30 years; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: My Department is not aware of any Government introduced schemes to monitor performance in the motor car repair industry in the past 30 years (although there have been some ad hoc research exercises). There have been a number of non-government schemes and codes of practice which have incorporated some elements of performance monitoring. The Office of Fair Trading monitors complaints and enforcement action in relation to specific offences across all consumer activity including the car repair sector.
	The Office of Fair Trading has recently approved the code of the Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association. One of the criteria to be met in order to achieve approval is that there should be in place effective means of monitoring performance against code content. The OFT also recently approved a code by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders which in part covers manufacturers' activity in relation to repairs required under new car warranty.

China

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much UK investment there has been in China since 1999.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Tom Brake, dated 1 November 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question about UK investment in China since 1999. I am replying in his absence. (194127)
	The results for the annual surveys into Foreign Direct Investment are published in the Business Monitor MA4 Foreign Direct Investment, which is available on the National Statistics Website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_economy/MA4_2002.pdf
	The latest information is for the year 2002. Figures for China do not include Hong Kong, which is shown separately.
	
		Total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Flows and International Investment Position UK to China, 19992002
		
			 Year Net FDI Flows Net FDI International Investment Position(18) 
		
		
			 1999 604 1,254 
			 2000 410 1,505 
			 2001 662 2,106 
			 2002 643 3,359 
		
	
	(18) Position at the end of the year, book value
	Source:
	ONS Business Monitor MA4: Foreign Direct Investment 2002
	
		Total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Flows and International Investment Position UK to Hong Kong, 19992002
		
			 Year Net FDI Flows Net FDI International Investment Position(19) 
		
		
			 1999 312 5,533 
			 2000 -3,309 4,745 
			 2001 590 6,638 
			 2002 933 5,735 
		
	
	(19) Position at the end of the year, book value
	Source:
	ONS Business Monitor MA4: Foreign Direct Investment 2002

Citizens Advice Bureaux

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many citizens advice bureaux are operating.

Gerry Sutcliffe: From information provided by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland, the umbrella organisations for the Citizens Advice Bureaux Service in the UK, there are 566 Citizens Advice Bureaux operating in the UK. Many of these operate from more than one source, including for example, hospitals and magistrates courts, and in total there may be some 2,800 points of delivery.

Coal Health Scheme

Michael Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what the average cost paid by the Department under the Coal Health Scheme to each of its contractors was when a living claimant (a) agreed an expedited settlement and (b) settled after going through the Medical Assessment Process in the last period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the average cost paid by the Department under the Coal Health Scheme to each of its contractors was (a) when a living widow accepted an expedited settlement and (b) when the settlement followed the appraisal of the deceased's documentation by the Medical Assessment Process in the last period for which figures are available;
	(3)  what the average cost paid by the Department under the Coal Health Scheme to each of its contractors was (a) when a claim on behalf of the estate agreed an expedited settlement and (b) when the settlement followed the appraisal of the deceased's documents by the Medical Assessment Process in the last period for which figures are available.

Nigel Griffiths: The Department's claim handlers do not record the information in the format requested. Processing expedited settlements is not costed separately. There are not expected payments to widows or their estates for deceased claims.
	The average cost paid to contractors for handling a respiratory disease claimlive and deceasedis approximately 1,300. I am advised that more than half this cost is accounted for by medical assessments.

Copyright

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what her policy is on the extension of the term of copyright protection granted in the EU to the creators of sound recordings;
	(2)  what response she intends to make to the Internal Market Directorate-General's consultation on the review of the Term of Protection Directorate (DIR 93/98/EEC).

Patricia Hewitt: The Term of Protection Directive harmonises copyright term across the EU. The Commission has argued against pursuing any extension of the term of protection for sound recordings at the moment. We believe that the copyright term for sound recordings in the EU must take into account all relevant factors, and we are therefore currently examining the Commission's views and the evidence presented to us by UK industry.
	We agree with the light-touch approach to updating the EU copyright framework, including the Term Directive (93/98/EEC), as set out in the Commission's staff working paper. The Commission has made it clear that its consultation is directed at interested parties but not member states. We are therefore urging the creative industries and other key sectors in the UK to make their views known to the Commission.

East Midlands Development Agency

Stephen Dorrell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many full-time equivalent employees were working for the East Midlands Development Agency in each year since its establishment.

Jacqui Smith: I am advised by the East Midlands Development Agency that the number of full time equivalent employees working for it in each year since its inception is as follows:
	
		
			  Number of full-time equivalent employees 
		
		
			 19992000 113 
			 200001 124 
			 200102 141 
			 200203 170 
			 200304 185

Energy Research

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government are taking to ensure basic energy research is being carried out in the UK; and how much her Department spent on such research in each of the last three years.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 15 October 2004
	The Science and Innovation Framework for 200414, published in July, sets out the Government's ambition for UK science and innovation over the next decade. Sustainable energy is a key theme and priority. The Office of Science and Technology will review departmental science and innovation plans for their quality and effectiveness following the spending round negotiations and assess the extent to which these align to wider Government priorities, including those in support of sustainable energy.
	The Government support energy research through two main mechanisms. Industrial research is supported under the DTI New and Renewable Energy Programme, which has now been subsumed within the DTI Technology Programme. Research in universities and academia, including basic research, is supported by the Research Councils.
	Expenditure under the DTI New and Renewable Energy Programme, the fusion research programme, and by the Research Councils on energy related research for the last three years is as follows:
	
		
			  Expenditure ( million) 
		
		
			 200102 35.8 
			 200203 43.0 
			 200304 46.0 
		
	
	Responsibility for funding for fusion research transferred from DTI to the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in April 2003.
	The main Research Council energy related research programmes are currently: Towards a Sustainable Energy Economy with 28 million funded jointly between Natural Environment Research Council, EPSRC and Economic and Social Research Council, which includes funding for the UK Energy Research Centre; SuperGen with 25 million for sustainable energy generation funded by EPSRC; Carbon Vision with 14 million funded jointly by EPSRC and the Carbon Trust for research into energy efficiency and low carbon innovation; and the fusion programme with 48 million from EPSRC.
	The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research (with a budget of 10 million over 200005 from NERC, ESRC and EPSRC) also undertakes energy related research.

Export Control Advisory Committee

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the purpose is of the Export Control Advisory Committee; when it was set up; which organisations are represented on it; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Griffiths: The Export Control Advisory Committee was set up to enable the Export Control Organisation (ECO) to engage in a structured dialogue with representatives of industry who are subject to the strategic export control regulations administered by ECO. This is particularly important following the implementation of the Export Control Act 2002 which imposes new controls on exporters of strategic goods. The Committee is chaired by the Director of ECO and consists of representatives of trade associations whose members are users of the export licensing system. It meets every six months starting from 13 May 2004.

Fair Trade

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make it her policy to ensure that all Government-funded hospitality is sourced from fair trade producers.

Douglas Alexander: The Department of Trade and Industry works closely with other Government departments to promote fair trade, and the Government are committed to supporting fair trade through its own suppliers wherever possible within the boundaries set by the public procurement rules.
	Since September 2002 the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has ensured that Fairtrade products were made available throughout the DTI offices, and many of her Cabinet colleagues have responded to her urging to do likewise. Government departmental restaurants and cafeterias are continually adding to their range of FairTrade products. In addition to FairTrade coffee and tea, staff, visitors, and Ministers can now enjoy FairTrade cereal and chocolate bars, and FairTrade hot chocolate, sweetened with FairTrade sugar.

Glass Packaging Sector

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent reports she has received on the glass packaging sector, with particular reference to its (a) market structure, (b) output levels and (c) key characteristics, including job losses; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The Department has recently received an ECOTEC Report commissioned by Barnsley Development Agency on the economic impact assessment of the glass packaging sector on the Yorkshire and Humber economy.
	The report considers the current as well as the likely future impacts of a proposed new glass packaging plant in Cheshire which is the subject of an RSA application currently with the Department.
	Officials are currently considering developments on this case and will respond in more detail when they are in a position to do so.

Glass Packaging Sector

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the (a) recent development of the glass container industry and (b) impact that development of the industry will have on jobs in the Yorkshire region.

Jacqui Smith: The recent ECOTEC report commissioned by Barnsley Development Agency suggests that since 2000 demand for glass packaging has grown by 1 per cent. per year. In the near future, growth in demand for glass packaging is expected to continue at approximately 12 per cent. per annum.
	It is difficult to say what the impact on the development of the industry will have on jobs in the Yorkshire region but it is for Industry, in partnership with Government and key stakeholders such as the Regional Development Agency, to help manufacturing companies fulfil their potential.

Research and Development

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the forthcoming competition deadlines are for grants for research and development in each region.

Nigel Griffiths: The first round of competitions in all English regions closed on 28 May 2004. A second competition in West Midlands closed on 8 October 2004 and a second competition is underway in the North East which closes on 12 November 2004. We are working closely with the Regional Development Agencies on the timing of future competitions.

Research and Development

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value is of the awards offered by her Department from the grant for research and development regional competitions held in May this year (a) in total and (b) broken down by region.

Nigel Griffiths: The value of Grant for Research and Development offers made in the first round of regional competitions that closed on 28 May 2004 are shown on the following table:
	
		
			 Region Value of Awards (000) 
		
		
			 East 4,039,232 
			 East Midlands 490,041 
			 London 1,591,000 
			 North East 621,759 
			 North West 1,684,309 
			 South East 711,954 
			 South West 127,564 
			 West Midlands 490,736 
			 Yorks and Number 849,129 
			 Total 10,605,724

Research and Development

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to involve staff from the regional development agencies in the administration of the grant for research and development.

Nigel Griffiths: Regional Development Agency (RDA) staff will administer the Grant for Research and Development from 1 April 2005. Officials in the Small Business Service, the current administrators of the product, are working closely with RDA staff to ensure business continuity at the handover date.

Research and Development

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what change there has been in her Department's spending priorities to accommodate an increase in funds for grants for research and development in 200304 and 200405.

Nigel Griffiths: The increased expenditure on Grant for Research and Development are contained within DTI's overall expenditure.

National Institute for Medical Research

Kerry Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with the Medical Research Council on alternatives to the closure and dispersal of the National Institute for Medical Research; and if she will make a statement.

Patricia Hewitt: The future of the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) is a matter for the Medical Research Council (MRC). However, my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Science and Innovation met with NIMR staff and Union representatives last year and has discussed with MRC the handling of the process. I have not been personally involved in any discussions with MRC. OST is continuing to monitor developments and remains in close contact with the MRC on this matter.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces Deployment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in how many different combat zones British forces are deployed.

Adam Ingram: British Service personnel are deployed on operations in the principal locations as follows:
	Afghanistan
	Balkans
	Cyprus
	Democratic Republic of Congo
	Gulf Region
	Georgia
	Iraq
	Liberia
	Sierra Leone
	The list does not include personnel serving in loan/diplomatic posts, in permanent garrisons, personnel stationed on British overseas territories or on training detachments.

Arms Exports

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many F680 applications (a) received clearance and (b) did not receive clearance in each year since 1997, broken down by applicant country.

Adam Ingram: Information on F680 applications cleared and refused is set out in the following tables.
	
		
			  F680 cleared 
			 Country 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Albania1
			 Algeria 14 17 15 5 2 3 10 
			 Angola 2 2 3 
			 Argentina 1 5 16 5 3 3 1 
			 Australia 110 148 163 68 105 100 79 
			 Austria 26 7 17 19 19 9 24 
			 Bahamas1
			 Bahrain 32 22 15 15 11 17 17 
			 Bangladesh 19 12 10 10 4 10 10 
			 Barbados 1 1 1 1   2 
			 Belarus 2 1  1 2  1 
			 Belgium 38 55 62 73 66 40 38 
			 Belize 1 1 1 1
			 Bermuda   1 1
			 Bhutan 1   
			 Bolivia 2 1 2 1
			 Bosnia-Hercegovina  3  1
			 Botswana 7 6 7 2 3 2 3 
			 Brazil 44 43 45 32 32 27 20 
			 Brunei 39 19 25 18 18 21 11 
			 Bulgaria 2 7 6 3 8 10 7 
			 Burundi  1  
			 Cambodia  1 1 1
			 Cameroon 3 1 4 1  1  
			 Canada 77 70 79 52 113 46 89 
			 Cayman Islands  1 1 
			 Central African Republic   1 
			 Chile 50 40 27 17 19 16 33 
			 China 31 40 30 15 35 29 6 
			 Colombia 12 15 17 6 6 2 3 
			 Costa Rica 21   
			 Croatia 4 1  2 1 1 2 
			 Cuba 1  1 
			 Cyprus 5 3 4 6 6 7  
			 Czech Republic 22 17 33 16 14 13 22 
			 Denmark 46 59 48 56 35 43 44 
			 Dominican Republic   1  1   
			 Ecuador 23 16 9 3 9 2  
			 Egypt 53 32 32 34 32 18 15 
			 El Salvador 1 1 1 1 1   
			 Eritrea  1  
			 Estonia 5 4 6 2 4 3 3 
			 Ethiopia 3 5 1  1 1  
			 European Community 2   
			 Falkland Islands   2 1 2   
			 Fiji 1 1  1  1  
			 Finland 29 37 56 40 35 27 47 
			 France 123 164 139 169 157 141 120 
			 Gabon  2 1   2  
			 Gambia2  1  
			 Georgia  1 1 2
			 Germany 109 135 106 127 113 62 93 
			 Ghana 6 2 6 3 2 3  
			 Gibraltar   4 
			 Greece 51 84 60 54 56 53 57 
			 Guatemala 3  1 1   1 
			 Guinea  1  
			 Guyana 1 3 1 1 1   
			 Honduras 3  1   1  
			 Hong Kong 8 12 9 7 3 8 3 
			 Hungary 17 16 15 13 13 11 19 
			 Iceland 4 11 13 9 8 39 29 
			 India 84 60 75 49 41 55 47 
			 Indonesia 59 30 20 11 26 14 12 
			 Israel 31 37 24 30 23 3 31 
			 Italy 62 108 85 97 65 87 81 
			 Ivory Coast 2  3 
			 Jamaica 2   1 2 2  
			 Japan 64 76 103 100 53 48 45 
			 Jordan 13 24 25 24 10 12 12 
			 Kazakhstan  2 1 4 2 3  
			 Kenya 13 3 12 7 3 3 4 
			 Korea, South 141 65 105 77 78 71 42 
			 Kuwait 44 32 30 23 17 27 32 
			 Kyrgyzstan  1 1  1   
			 Laos  12  
			 Latvia 8 5 4  3 2 3 
			 Lebanon 5 4 5 2 34 2 1 
			 Lesotho 1 11  
			 Libya   2 
			 Liechtenstein1 1   
			 Lithuania 5 5 6 2 2 3 5 
			 Luxembourg 6 13 13 12 11 7 17 
			 Macedonia 1 1 1  3 7  
			 Madagascar   1   1  
			 Malawi 1  2   1  
			 Malaysia 76 64 58 62 41 50 41 
			 Maldive Islands 1  1 1   1 
			 Mali1
			 Malta   3 2 3 1 1 
			 Mauritania  1 1 
			 Mauritius  4 1  1 5  
			 Mexico 12 5 7 4 12 9 2 
			 Moldova 1 1  
			 Monaco  1  
			 Morocco 10 13 10 3 3 2 14 
			 Mozambique 1  2  1   
			 Namibia 3 3 2  1 1  
			 Nato  1  
			 Nepal 1 1  2  4  
			 Netherlands 74 92 96 73 60 59 59 
			 New Zealand 33 33 59 22 37 37 35 
			 Nicaragua 1  1 1  1  
			 Niger 2   
			 Nigeria 1 1 14 3 8 4 2 
			 Norway 57 84 78 62 46 54 75 
			 Oman 49 29 34 31 62 32 46 
			 Pakistan 60 57 35 21 25 15 26 
			 Panama 2  4 1 1 7  
			 Papua New Guinea 1  2 1 2   
			 Paraguay 1 3 1 2 1   
			 Peru 22 14 10 8 13 2 5 
			 Philippines 35 29 33 18 16 7 10 
			 Poland 23 39 37 28 30 31 33 
			 Portugal 40 49 40 34 43 30 44 
			 Qatar 44 27 26 16 21 14 14 
			 Ireland 6 10 17 10 17 30 38 
			 Romania 17 10 12 10 14 17 21 
			 Russia 6 22 18 15 10 10 3 
			 Rwanda  1  
			 Saudi Arabia 73 42 44 32 65 47 62 
			 Senegal 2   1  1  
			 Serbia and Montenegro 11  6 
			 Seychelles1
			 Sierra Leone   10   1  
			 Singapore 77 72 69 43 55 32 30 
			 Slovak Republic 1  1 1   2 
			 Slovakia 4 9 3 5 13 4 4 
			 Slovenia 8 12 4 4 6 8 3 
			 South Africa 46 61 86 43 26 27 34 
			 Spain 64 82 74 67 65 58 73 
			 Sri Lanka 16 8 13 16 9 5 10 
			 Suriname  2  
			 Sweden 78 73 112 55 49 43 76 
			 Switzerland 15 10 29 30 28 7 37 
			 Syria 3 3 8 4 5 5 3 
			 Taiwan 36 30 25 23 14 11 28 
			 Tajikistan 1   
			 Tanzania 5 1 1  1 1  
			 Thailand 48 27 34 21 33 26 25 
			 Togo1
			 Trinidad and Tobago  3 2   1 4 
			 Tunisia 8 10 6 5 4 1 6 
			 Turkey 93 108 93 86 67 48 73 
			 Turkmenistan  1   1   
			 UAE 77 43 43 37 78 41 39 
			 Uganda 7 2 2 
			 Ukraine 2 5 3 2 3 2  
			 Uruguay 7 7 5 5 2 2  
			 USA 255 278 394 282 288 188 258 
			 Uzbekistan  2  1 1  1 
			 Venezuela 29 18 22 7 18 6 3 
			 Vietnam 18 15 6 2 2 5 12 
			 Yemen 7 9 8 3 5 2 8 
			 Zambia 3 3 2 
			 Zimbabwe 4 7 1 
			 Total 3,143 3,128 3,319 2,548 2,625 2,122 2,409 
		
	
	
		
			  F680 refused 
			 Country 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Albania  1 1 
			 Algeria 8 3 3 3 3 4 4 
			 Angola   1  1   
			 Argentina  5 11 7 2 1  
			 Armenia  1  
			 Australia1 1 13 1 
			 Azerbaijan  11  
			 Bahrain   1 
			 Bangladesh  3 5 2
			 Belarus 11 1  
			 Belgium1 1   
			 Bhutan   1 
			 Bolivia   1 
			 Bosnia-Hercegovina1  2  
			 Brazil 3  5 1 2  1 
			 Brunei  2  
			 Bulgaria  1  
			 Burma  1 2 
			 Burundi   1 
			 Cambodia 2  1 1
			 Cameroon 1  1 
			 Canada  12 1 
			 Central African Republic   1 
			 China 12 12 10 28 6 16 12 
			 Colombia 4  1 
			 Congo   2 
			 Croatia 2 3  1 1 4 1 
			 Cuba   1 
			 Cyprus 3 4 2 1 2 4 4 
			 Czech Republic 1  4  1 2  
			 Denmark 4   
			 Djibouti   1 
			 Ecuador  2 1 1
			 Egypt 2 8 3 1 3 3 5 
			 El Salvador  1  
			 Equatorial Guinea  1 1 
			 Eritrea   1 
			 Estonia1  2  
			 Ethiopia   4 1
			 Finland1  4  
			 France 1  2 4 8 4 2 
			 Germany 2   5 3 1 1 
			 Ghana 1   
			 Greece   1  2 2  
			 Guatemala  2 1 
			 Guinea-Bissau   1 
			 Hong Kong 2  1 2   4 
			 Hungary   2  1 1  
			 Iceland2
			 India 1 6 12 7 5 7 15 
			 Indonesia 9 1 4 1 4 2 4 
			 Iran1  2 1 
			 Israel 2 6 1 5 4 11 6 
			 Italy 1 1   2 1 1 
			 Japan 4 1 1 
			 Jordan   1 2
			 Kazakhstan  1  
			 Korea, South   4 1 1 8 1 
			 Kuwait  11 4 
			 Laos   1 
			 Latvia  2  
			 Lebanon   1 1 1 1  
			 Liberia 1   
			 Libya   3 2 1 1  
			 Lithuania1  2  
			 Luxembourg   2  1   
			 Macao   1 
			 Macedonia  2 1 
			 Malaysia 2  2  1 1 2 
			 Mali 1   
			 Malta 1   
			 Mexico 2 4  
			 Morocco  1   5   
			 Myanmar1
			 Nepal1  1  
			 Netherlands3 2   
			 New Zealand  2  
			 Nigeria 5 1 1  3 2  
			 Norway 4 1 2 
			 Pakistan 3 2 6 21 5 10 1 
			 Peru 2  1 
			 Poland   1  1 1  
			 Portugal 1   
			 Qatar1   2 
			 Romania  2  1
			 Russia  2 1 2 3 1 6 
			 Rwanda   1 
			 Saudi Arabia   1 1  1 1 
			 Seychelles  1  
			 Sierra Leone 1  1 
			 Singapore 1  8  2 3 7 
			 Slovakia2
			 Slovenia 5 2  
			 Somalia   1 
			 South Africa 6 6 5 1 1 1 2 
			 Spain  1 1 4 2  1 
			 Sri Lanka 1  3 1  2  
			 Sudan 1  1 
			 Sweden 2  4   1 1 
			 Switzerland 1 1  2  1  
			 Syria 1  2   2  
			 Taiwan 8 11 1 6 4 7 2 
			 Tajikistan1 1   
			 Thailand1 1   
			 Togo 1   
			 Tunisia  1  
			 Turkey 6 2   2   
			 Turkmenistan2
			 UAE  1  1  3 2 
			 Ukraine 1   
			 USA 1 2 2 7 6 3 6 
			 Uzbekistan  1  
			 Venezuela   1  1 1  
			 Vietnam 2 2 1 
			 Yemen 1  1 1 1  5 
			 Yugoslavia   2   3  
			 Zaire 1  1 
			 Zimbabwe   4  1   
			 Total 112 102 152 145 114 165 115

Army

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) establishment, (b) funded liability and (c) actual strength was for the Army in each year since 1997; what it is in 200405; and what it is expected to be in 200506.

Ivor Caplin: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Army

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence upon which sectors of the Army the 6,500 reduction in manpower is expected to fall; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence made clear in July, the force structure, organisation and capabilities of the armed forces are to be modernised in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The decision to cease the infantry arms plot and encouraging progress in Northern Ireland has meant that we are able to restructure the infantry as part of this process and reduce the number of infantry battalions from 40 to 36. As I have made clear in my previous answers to the hon. Member, all of the manpower freed up from the reduction in infantry battalions will be reinvested across the army, to strengthen key enabling capabilities such as engineers, signals and intelligence.
	For the future we envisage an Army of about 102,000. This is however, dependent on achieving full normalisation in Northern Ireland. In the meantime therefore, the strength of the Army will remain broadly as it is today.

Army

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what financial saving is expected from reducing Infantry Battalions from 40 to 36.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2004, Official Report, column 713W.

Black Watch

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what meetings he has had with US officials to discuss lines of command if UK soldiers are to be redeployed in US controlled areas in Iraq.

Geoff Hoon: The Black Watch remain under the operational command of General Rollo, the UK General Officer Commanding Multi-National Division (South-East). On a day-to-day basis, the Black Watch co-ordinates its activity with the US chain of command in the locality, but any changes in the mission or the tasking would be referred back to General Rollo.

Bowman Radios

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints he has received about Bowman radios; and what the nature of the complaints was.

Adam Ingram: I am aware of media reports about Bowman radios. In common with other MOD equipment, the Bowman tactical communications system has an incident reporting system which captures any user comments about the performance of the system.

Combat Clothing

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many contracts for combat wear for the Army were awarded to UK companies and manufactured in the UK since 2001; and what percentage of the total number of contracts awarded this represented in each year.

Adam Ingram: The total number of contracts for all combat wear awarded to UK companies and manufactured in the UK since 2001 are as follows:
	
		
			  Total number of contracts awarded Number awarded to UK companies manufacturing in UK Percentage of UK based contracts 
		
		
			 2001 42 33 78 
			 2002 48 22 46 
			 2003 63 33 52 
			 2004 58 45 78

Combat Clothing

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment was made of the financial position of Cooneen Watts and Stone Textiles before the recent award of a contract by his Department; and what representations he has received since then regarding the company's financial situation.

Adam Ingram: The financial position of the individual companies within Cooneen Watts and Stone Ltd. was evaluated by the Ministry of Defence accountants and based upon the nature of the contract the company was assessed as acceptable. Unsolicited representations have recently been received concerning the company's financial position and the validity of these comments is being investigated.

Combat Clothing

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department made of whether there would have been a cost saving by splitting the Cut and Sew tender between Cookson and Clegg.

Adam Ingram: The selected contractor was assessed as having the best overall ranking against the published award criteria. They also offered the best price.
	Our assessment was that Cookson and Clegg Ltd did not offer the most economically advantageous solution for any single work package within this competition, to be the sole supplier. Splitting the contract award, on a lowest price basis, would not in any case have been compliant with the award criteria and the aim of appointing a single supplier with whom we could develop a partnering relationship for the next five years.

Combat Clothing

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether Factory Number 3533 will be used to print and supply the camouflage fabric for the Cut and Sew tender DC4BESL/1002.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 25 October 2004
	The terminology Factory Number 3533 is not a designation known to the Ministry of Defence team responsible for this contract. The selection of where manufacturing takes place is a commercial matter for the United Kingdom Prime Contractor and would be withheld under Exemption 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

End to End Review

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the final decision will be announced on the conclusions of the End to End Review.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 25 October 2004
	The End to End Review into logistics support in Air and Land concluded with a written report on 1 July 2003. This led to a six-month period of Demonstration activities to test the efficacy of the assumptions, conclusions and recommendations contained in the Final Report.
	Since 1 April 2004, all End to End focused activities have been combined with the extant Defence Logistics Organisation Change Programme, to form the Defence Logistics Transformation Programme, under the guidance of the Chief of Defence Logistics as logistics process owner across Defence.
	Delivery of the Defence Logistics Transformation Programme is likely to require announcements and decisions on future logistics support solutions. The announcement I made on 16 September 2004, Official Report, columns 16465WS, on the future locations of air depth maintenance support was the first major statement and represents a key component of the programme.

FRES Programme

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer of 4 October 2004, Official Report, column 1874W, on the FRES Programme, if he will outline the procurement procedure for the family of medium weight armoured vehicles.

Adam Ingram: The Assessment Phase of the Future Rapid Effects System (FRES) Programme was formally launched in May 2004. On 6 October, Atkins was nominated as Preferred Bidder for the role of Systems House to lead a number of Assessment Phase activities. It is anticipated that a contract will be in place by the end of the year. The Systems House is independent of product and manufacturing capabilities, and is therefore in a strong position to obtain the widest possible industrial involvement in the Programme.
	Studies, analysis and technology risk reduction activities conducted during the Assessment Phase will consider a range of options for FRES. The results of this work will be used to develop optimum procurement and support strategies and to inform decisions for future phases of the programme. All such decisions will take account of the Defence Industrial Policy.

FRES Programme

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Future Rapid Effects System is expected to be fully operational.

Adam Ingram: As I said on 4 October 2004, Official Report, column 1874W, the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) is still early in its Assessment Phase, which will determine when the initial operating capability and full operating capability could be achieved. Our current planning assumption, however, is that early FRES variants will be introduced around the turn of the decade, with further variants introduced at the most appropriate point in the programme, using a phased approach to achieving full operational capability.

FRES Programme

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which British Army medium vehicles have the technological capability to contain the Future Rapid Effects System.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 October 2004, Official Report, column 1875W.

Future Offensive Air System

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the Future Offensive Air System project; what the project's objectives are; which countries are participating in it; which UK and European aerospace companies are involved; what funding his Department has contributed to its work to date for each of the last five years; and when he expects to make public the outcome of this work.

Adam Ingram: The Future Offensive Air System (FOAS) work is assessing our future strike capability requirement from around 2020 onwards.
	FOAS is a MOD programme. Work on FOAS is supported in part by the European Technology Acquisition Programme (ETAP), which is designed to develop European technologies for future combat air systems. France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden participate in ETAP along with the UK. FOAS also has links with Australia.
	The principal companies involved in FOAS are BAE Systems, MBDA, Thales UK, LogicaCMG, and QinetiQ.
	MOD expenditure on FOAS in the last five years has been:
	
		
			   million 
		
		
			 19992000 15 
			 200001 20 
			 200102 20 
			 200203 15 
			 200304 14 
		
	
	As the project consists of a number of studies, and outcomes are study-dependant, there is no planned schedule of announcements related to FOAS at this time.

Harpoon Missile

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has (a) to remove Harpoon from Type 22 and Type 23 frigates and (b) to develop a successor to Harpoon; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Harpoon, in its current or future variants, is expected to remain in service on Type 22 and Type 23 frigates until their planned out of service dates. There is an ongoing surface warfare study considering future weapons solutions.

Helicopters (Sheppey)

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many military helicopters have flown over the Isle of Sheppey at a height of (a) less than 1,000 metres, (b) 1,000 metres, (c) 2,000 metres and (d) over 2,000 metres since May;
	(2)  what permission military helicopters require when flying over the Isle of Sheppey below 2,000 metres.

Ivor Caplin: The western tip of the Isle of Sheppey lies within the Thames Valley Avoidance Area (TVAA). To operate within the TVAA below 2,000 feet military aircraft require permission from MoD Head Office, must make a booking with the low flying booking cell and will also be under air traffic control.
	The Isle of Sheppey lies predominantly within Low Flying Area 18, which includes most of Kent and parts of Sussex. If Military helicopters are flying below 500ft they are operating in the Low Flying System, in which case flights need to be pre-planned, and suitably authorised. Otherwise no specific permission is required for flying over the Isle of Sheppey below 2,000 metres. There is an avoidance for all helicopters over the Swaleside Prison.
	The information in respect of overflights is not available in the form requested. Details of the number of helicopter flights above 500ft are not held. Data for flights below that height is recorded according to the Low Flying Area (LFA) within which aircraft are operating. Since May 2004, 247 helicopter sorties, totalling 157 hours have been recorded for LFA 18.

Iraq

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many depleted uranium tipped shells have been used in Iraq since March 2003; and what the total weight is of depleted uranium so used.

Adam Ingram: There are no depleted uranium (DU) tipped shells in UK service.
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 339W, in respect of the use of DU by United Kingdom armed forces since March 2003.

Iraq

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for maintaining a reserve battalion in south east Iraq following the redeployment of (a) the Black Watch and (b) other troops in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 5 October 2004
	I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by the right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence in the House on 21 October 2004, Official Report, columns 103537.

Iraq

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what weapons are available to (a) US, (b) British and (c) Iraqi troops serving in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: British forces in Iraq deploy with the appropriate weapons and other capabilities for the situation they face, which varies over time and different geographical areas. These range from Challenger II tanks and Warrior Armoured Vehicles, through to small arms. For reasons of operational security, I am not able to go into further details. I am therefore withholding that information under Exemption la of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
	The equipment provided to US forces in Iraq is a matter for the US Government.
	The equipment and weapon systems used by the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) are matters for the Iraqi Interim Government, and it would not be appropriate for me to release details. A procurement programme is in place to ensure that the ISF have the right capabilities for the security tasks they face now and in the coming months.

Iraq

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the Order of Battle in the Iraq theatre of operation will be from 1 November; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: As I announced in the House on 17 June 2004, Official Report, columns 4849WS, land forces in Iraq are currently undergoing a roulement between the component units of 1 Mechanised Brigade and 4 Armoured Brigade. By 15 November, the roulement will be complete and the anticipated Order of Battle for UK forces in Iraq will be as follows:
	Land contribution
	Headquarters 4 Armoured Brigade
	The Queens Dragoon Guards
	The Royal Dragoon Guards
	1st Battalion Welsh Guards
	1st Battalion Scots Guards
	1st Battalion The Duke of Wellington's Regiment
	40 Commando (Royal Marines)
	1st Battalion Black Watch
	4th Regiment Royal Artillery
	Phoenix Battery 32 Regiment Royal Artillery
	21 Engineer Regiment.
	Field Support Squadron, 28 Engineer Regiment
	1 Battalion REME
	Logistic elements from 7 Transport Regiment RLC
	Squadron from General Support Medical Regiment
	East and West Riding Rifles (TA Force Protection)
	At 1 November, the roulement will still be under way, and elements of 1 Mech Brigade will still be in theatre. Troop levels in Iraq are kept under constant review.
	Maritime Contribution
	HMS Somerset
	HMS Echo
	RFA Bayleaf (also supporting other operations)
	Air Contribution
	14 Squadron Tornado GR4 Detachment
	10 Squadron VC 10 Detachment
	Kinloss Maritime Wing Nimrod MR2 Detachment
	24/30 Squadron Hercules Detachment
	Joint Helicopter ForceIraq
	32 Squadron HS 125 Detachment
	51 Squadron RAF Regiment

Joint Strike Fighter

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consultations the Government has had with the US Administration about technology transfer and access with regard to the Joint Strike Fighter.

Adam Ingram: Ministers and officials regularly discuss Joint Strike Fighter technology access and data release issues with the US Administration.

Joint Strike Fighter

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what effect the changes to the internal weapons bays of the Joint Strike Fighter will have on the UK's future weapons requirement for that aircraft.

Adam Ingram: The longer term trend is toward smaller, more accurate weapons, and therefore the changes to the internal weapons bay of the Short Take Off Vertical Landing Variant of the Joint Strike Fighter are not seen as a major impediment to future weapons capability. If the need arose, the variant could still carry large weapons externally. The changes do not impact on the weapons requirements at the In Service Date.

Joint Strike Fighter

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to sign a contract for the STOVL variant of the Joint Strike Fighter.

Adam Ingram: Contracts will be let by the US on behalf of all Joint Strike Fighter partner nations, and will cover all variants of the aircraft, as required nationally. In common with all the nations, the United Kingdom's first contribution to the production phase is likely to be in 2007, when a commitment to non recurring production costs for the overall production run will be required. Actual orders for UK aircraft are not planned before 2009.

Naval Procurement

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the fabrication of individual blocks, in addition to design, final assembly and integration, is covered by his commitment that warships for the Royal Navy will be built in the UK.

Adam Ingram: It is government policy that the fabrication and assembly of new Royal Navy warship hulls should be undertaken in United Kingdom yards. This includes the fabrication of individual blocks of warship hulls.

Naval Procurement

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his proposals for aligning the future naval procurement programme with UK domestic industrial capacity.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence is currently engaged in discussions with appropriate members of United Kingdom industry to align the future naval procurement programme and available UK industrial capacity. The detail will be refined in the coming months as work to develop an industrial strategy for the UK naval shipbuilding industry matures.

Offshore Patrol Vessels

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the lease of the three River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels is due to expire; and what plans he has to (a) purchase these vessels, (b) extend their lease and (c) return them to Vosper Thorneycroft (UK) Ltd.

Adam Ingram: The current lease for the three River class OPVs will expire in 2008. We have not yet taken any decisions regarding our future requirement for these ships.

Race Relations Act

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department has had with the Commission for Racial Equality concerning the applicability of the Race Relations Act 1976 to service personnel serving on sovereign bases outside the European Union.

Ivor Caplin: There have been no such discussions to date. However, with the adoption of the EU Race Discrimination Directive in July 2003, the Race Relations Act has been amended, so that it would apply to service personnel serving on sovereign bases outside Great Britain, and in relation to allegations of race discrimination, which took or take place after the change in the law.

Scottish Regiments

George Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the percentage of personnel in each of the Scottish regiments are originally from (a) Scotland, (b) the rest of the United Kingdom and (c) overseas.

Ivor Caplin: The information is as follows:
	
		Nationality of UK trained regular army personnel in each of the Scottish regiments as at 1 September 2004 -- Percentage(20)
		
			  Nationality 
			  Scottish 2 Rest of UK Overseas 
		
		
			 The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards 61 35 4 
			 1st Battalion the Scots Guards and F Company Scots Guards 60 37 3 
			 1st Battalion The Royal Scots 70 13 16 
			 1st Battalion The Royal Highland Fusiliers 85 10 5 
			 1st Battalion The Kings Own Scottish Borderers 82 16 2 
			 1st Battalion The Black Watch 80 15 5 
			 1st Battalion The Highlanders 71 22 7 
			 1st Battalion The Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders 88 11 2 
		
	
	(20) The sum of percentages may not add up to 100 per cent. due to rounding.
	(21) Scottish includes those who have specified themselves as British/Scottish. It will not include those who are Scottish but recorded as British.
	The information in the table refers to the nationality recorded on the individual's Record of Service and is their current nationality, not necessarily their nationality at birth.
	Figures do not include Full-Time Reserve Service (FTRS), Gurkhas or mobilised reservists. The information relates to the strength of UK Trained Regular Army personnel in the Scottish Regiments, regardless of whether they serve away from the main body of the regiment. It does not include members of other regiments and arms/services attached to these regiments.

Seyntex

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 950W, on Seyntex, if he will make a statement on the bid by Cookson and Clegg with specific reference to delivery.

Adam Ingram: Cookson and Clegg did not bid in the competition to supply General Service Tents, to which my hon. Friend refers.

SFOR

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 19 October 2004, Official Report, column 596W, on SFOR, how many of the 1000 UK personnel on the SFOR mission Operation Althea will be infantry.

Adam Ingram: The EU-led Operation Althea will be launched on 2 December 2004, following the termination of NATO's SFOR mission. Manning levels will not change significantly from those in SFOR which, at 15 October 2004, were around 1,000 troops in theatre. The British contribution to Operation ALTHEA will include an infantry deployment of 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, which will comprise up to 500 personnel.

Submarines

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of the rescue operation for HMCS Chicoutimi and returning her safely to port; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The full internal costs for the rescue of the HMCS Chicoutimi are not yet available. The cost of the tow, including the hire of the tug, Anglian Princess, is an estimated 190,000. It is not MOD policy to recover costs for assistance in life threatening situations.

Submarines

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when ownership of HMS Upholder transferred from his Department.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence remains the owner of HMS Upholder. Canada is leasing the submarine, re-named as HMCS Chicoutimi, over an eight-year period which commenced at handover on 2 October 2004. Under the terms of the contract between the United Kingdom and Canada, Canada has the right to buy out the lease of the submarines at any time. Canada will pay a token 1 at the end of the lease period to assume full ownership.

Submarines

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who was responsible for the cost of the (a) refit, (b) maintenance and (c) crew training for HMS Upholder.

Adam Ingram: Prior to the handover to, and acceptance by Canada of, the Upholder Class Submarines, the Defence Procurement Agency was responsible for the costs of the reactivation (refurbishment) and maintenance of the submarines. Shore training associated with the lease of the submarines to Canada was covered in a separate contract between BAE Systems and Canada. To oversee the shore training, the Ministry of Defence created a specialist team that also provided further onboard training under a Memorandum of Understanding with Canada.

Submarines

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what payments have been received by the Government from the Canadian Government in respect of the Upholder class of submarines.

Adam Ingram: The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence has received to date Canadian $310 million in respect of the lease to Canada of the four Upholder Class submarines.

Suez Medal

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many veterans who are eligible for the Suez medal he expects will (a) not have received them and (b) have received them by 14 November;
	(2)  what progress has been made in distributing the Suez medals; and when he estimates distribution will be completed.

Ivor Caplin: By 14 November 2004 it is estimated that 19,100 applications will be awaiting assessment. Assumptions based upon the ratio of veterans found eligible from applications assessed to date suggest that some 15,300 eligible veterans who have applied will not have received their Suez Medal. It is estimated that by 14 November some 18,600 medals will have been issued.
	As at 22 October 17,291 Suez Medals had been issued, and it is estimated that all eligible personnel who have applied should have received their medals by December 2005.

Tomahawk Cruise Missiles

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 9 March 2004, Official Report, column 1405W, on Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, what estimate he has made of the (a) cost and (b) practicability of fitting Tomahawk cruise missiles to a Type 45 destroyer; and which would be the first in the series of these ships to which the missiles could be fitted.

Adam Ingram: There is currently no requirement for the Type 45 destroyer to be fitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles, and so no requirement for a detailed costing to be undertaken. If a requirement is subsequently identified, the appropriate ship in the build or upkeep cycle would be identified as the first to receive such missiles.

Type 23 Frigate

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the running costs of a Type-23 frigate were in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Adam Ingram: We do not now manage costs on the basis of individual types of ships. There is therefore no distinct, identifiable budget for Type 23 frigates. But we estimate the average direct running costs for any of the 16 ships of this type in 2003 to be 8.93 million.

Typhoon

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on Tranche 3 of Typhoon.

Adam Ingram: The first tranche of 55 Typhoons is on order, and the aircraft are now successfully entering service with the RAF. Negotiations for the second tranche of 89 aircraft are making good progress. Negotiations on an order for Tranche 3 are not expected to start before 2007.

Warships

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to transfer (a) HMS Newcastle, (b) HMS Cardiff and (c) HMS Glasgow to an overseas navy.

Adam Ingram: There are currently no plans to transfer HMS Newcastle and HMS Glasgow to an overseas navy. The Ministry of Defence's Disposal Services Agency (DSA) will investigate the possibility of a commercial sale. The disposal route for HMS Cardiff is yet to be agreed.

Whittington Barracks, Lichfield

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  which bases will be used in England over the next five years for the Army Training Regiment;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the future use of the army barracks at Whittington, Lichfield;
	(3)  what plans he has to sell land occupied by the Whittington barracks near Lichfield;
	(4)  whether he plans to move the Army Training Regiment for Lichfield.

Ivor Caplin: The Army Training and Recruiting Agency (ATRA) is currently conducting a study to evaluate the capacity requirements for Phase 1 soldier training and to determine the most long term economical use of the existing Phase 1 training real estate, which includes four Army Training Regiments (ATRs); ATR Bassingbourn, ATR Winchester, ATR Pirbright, ATR Lichfield and the Army Foundation College Harrogate. The study will identify and develop a range of options including the feasibility of closing one of the ATRs. No decisions have yet been reached as the study involves a detailed business case and economic appraisal to determine value for money in any restructuring of Phase 1 training. It is hoped to conclude the study early in 2005.
	Any site identified for possible closure would be assessed for alternative uses within the MOD. In the event that another user could not be identified, the site would be closed. The site that is recommended for closure would result in its recruits being reallocated to the remaining three ATRs, with some expansion at the remaining sites to create greater efficiencies in training.

PRIME MINISTER

Black Watch Deployment

Alan Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister if he will give an assurance that when Black Watch troops return to the UK for Christmas they will not be replaced by other British troops in forward deployments outside the Basra area.

Tony Blair: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Inverness, West (Mr. Kennedy) at Prime Minister's questions on 27 October 2004, Official Report, column 1425.

Gambling

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Prime Minister which (a) UK and (b) international organisations have submitted written representations to his office concerning the Government's proposals for changes to legislation on gambling; and on what dates each representation (i) was received and (ii) was given a substantive response.

Tony Blair: The information is not available in the format requested. Since the beginning of the year I have received over 65 letters on the issue of gambling. Given the volume of correspondence I receive, over one million letters and cards in the last year covering a broad spectrum of issues, my office records letters by subject rather than by the view expressed. My office works hard to ensure that all letters receive appropriate responses.

Gambling

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the overseas visits made by (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his office in relation to proposed changes to legislation on gambling; what the itinerary was for each visit; how long each visit lasted; which hotels were used; what the cost was in each case; and how each visit was funded.

Tony Blair: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing 500 or more during each financial year. Copies of these lists are available in the Library of the House. Information on the number of officials accompanying me on overseas visits is included in the list. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, and the Civil Service Management Code.

Gambling

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister what the basis is for the statement he made at his monthly press conference at Downing street on 25 October that the granting of additional powers to local authorities to give planning permission for large leisure complexes and casinos will aid regeneration in these areas.

Tony Blair: The evidence of the potential regenerative benefits of resort casinos is summarised in chapter 8 of the report of the Joint Committee on the Draft Gambling Bill (HC 1391), copies of which are available in the Vote Office and on the Parliament website.

Iraq

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Prime Minister what assurances were given to the US Administration in March 2002 regarding the policy of the British Government on regime change in Iraq.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Alexander) to the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Opik) on 27 October 2004, Official Report, column 1254W.

Press Releases

Pete Wishart: To ask the Prime Minister how many press releases have been issued by his Department in each month of 2004; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: Press releases issued by my office since the beginning of this year are available on the No. 10 website.

Strategy Unit Budget

Paul Flynn: To ask the Prime Minister what the sources of funding for the Strategy Unit budget are in 200405.

Alan Milburn: I have been asked to reply.
	The Strategy Unit is funded mainly by the Cabinet Office with contributions for some projects from other Government Departments.

Travel Costs

Charles Hendry: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to ensure there are no costs to the taxpayer for visits abroad by his wife for (a) personal and (b) business purposes.

Tony Blair: Subject to the usual security considerations, there should be no additional cost to the taxpayer from any purely private visit.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Agency Staff

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many agency temporary staff have been working for his Department in each of the last five years, excluding those working for agencies for which no data are kept centrally.

Maria Eagle: The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

ATOS Origin

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 18 October 2004, Official Report, column 478W, on telephone inquiries, whether ATOS Origin employs an incentive or rating scheme in relation to (a) inquiries and (b) mailings related to the direct payment of pensions and benefits;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 18 October 2004, Official Report, column 478W, on telephone inquiries, what the terms are of the contract with ATOS Origin; and whether incentive schemes are in operation for ATOS Origin operatives.

Chris Pond: There is a commercial contract in place to deliver the conversion of benefit and pensions customers to Direct Payment through a customer conversion centre. Elements of the contract contain commercially confidential information and we are unable to disclose them, however I can say that there is no incentive scheme within the terms of this contract for staff involved in the process of converting customers to Direct Payment.

Benefit Payments (Pensioners)

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners are in receipt of (a) council tax benefit and (b) housing benefit in (i) Angus and (ii) Scotland.

Chris Pond: Information on the numbers of pensioners receiving housing benefit and council tax benefit is not available below National or Government Office Region level. The available information is in the table.
	
		Housing benefit and council tax benefit recipients aged 60 and over in Scotland: May 2003
		
			  Benefit units (22) Beneficiaries (23) 
		
		
			 Housing benefit 197,000 230,000 
			 Council tax benefit 275,000 324,000 
		
	
	(22) Pensioners are defined as pensioner benefit units where the claimant and/or partner are aged 60 or over. This may be a single person, couple or family.
	(23) 'Beneficiaries' are the sum of claimants and partners aged 60 or over.
	Notes:
	1. The figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
	3. Council tax benefit totals exclude any Second Adult Rebate cases.
	4. Housing benefit figures exclude any Extended Payment cases.
	Source:
	Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, Annual 1 per cent. sample, taken in May 2003.

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 9 August sent to the Department for Education and Skills, transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions on 17 August, and passed to Jobcentre Plus, ref. POS(7)10644/0039; and what the reasons are for the delay in replying.

Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to my hon. Friend.
	Letter from Stephen Hewitt to Mr. David Winnick, dated 29 October 2004
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply to your question concerning your letter of 9 August to the Department for Education and Skills and to explain the reasons for the delay. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to David Anderson as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. I am replying on his behalf as a member of the Jobcentre Plus Board.
	Your letter was transferred to the Correspondence Team in Jobcentre Plus on 17 August but, unfortunately, we did not receive it. It was only when you enquired about the lack of response that this problem came to light. We finally received your letter on 8 October. I am currently in the process of investigating the issues you have raised and will send you a reply by 5 November. I apologise for the delay and, in light of the problems you have experienced, we will review the processes of both the Department and Jobcentre Plus to ensure this does not recur.
	I hope this is helpful.

CSA

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason the net administration costs of the Child Support Agency increased by 9.75 per cent. from 200203 to 200304.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Rob Marris, dated 25 October 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the net administration costs of the Child Support Agency increased by 9.75 per cent. from 200203 to 200304.
	The total increase in gross administrative costs between the two years is 28.716 million. 23.149 million of this increase relates to non-staff costs and 5.567 million relates to staff costs.
	Non-Staff Costs
	All fixed price IT services are reported in the accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions. This year there was a change in methodology for recharging this cost. This increased our charge by 6.785 million.
	Departmental corporate re-charges for services such as finance, personnel, commercial management, postage, accommodation and assurance increased by 6.974 million.
	The expenditure on Child Support Reform is reported in the accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions. The Department for Work and Pension reimburse the Agency for activity on these programmes. The amount of this reimbursement fell in the 200304 financial year by 18.202 million.
	Efficiencies in other areas have resulted in other non-staff costs principally Agency expenditure on postage, printing and stationery, travel and subsistence and office services falling by 8.812 million.
	Staff Costs
	Last years pay settlement added 4 per cent. to the Agency pay costs, and changes to employer national insurance rates added a further 1 per cent. This was offset because the average number of staff employed was slightly lower in 200304 than in the previous year. This is explained further in Note 2 to the Administration Accounts.

CSA

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason the non-staff administration costs of the Child Support Agency increased by 27 per cent. from 200203 to 200304.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Rob Marris, dated 25 October 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the non-staff administration costs of the Child Support Agency increased by 27 per cent. from 200203 to 200304.
	The increase in non-staff costs between the two years is 23.149 million. This is referred to at Note 5(b), 5(c) and 5(d) to the 200304 Administrative Account. In summary the main factors increasing expenditure are:
	All fixed price IT services are reported in the accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions. This year there was a change in methodology for recharging this cost. This increased our charge by 6.785 million.
	Departmental corporate re-charges for services such as finance, personnel, commercial management, postage, accommodation and assurance increased by 6.974 million.
	The expenditure on Child Support Reform is reported in the accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions. The Department for Work and Pensions reimburses the Agency for activity on these programmes. The amount of this reimbursement fell in the 200304 financial year by 18.202 million.
	Efficiencies in other areas have resulted in other non-staff costs principally Agency expenditure on postage, printing and stationery, travel and subsistence and office services falling by 8.812 million.

Departmental Redundancies

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what funding has been set aside to retrain staff from job centres and benefits agency offices who lose their jobs.

Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to my hon. Friend.
	Letter from David Anderson to Mr. Chris Ruane, dated 1 November 2004
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions concerning the funding that has been set aside to retrain staff from job centres and Benefits Agency offices. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The Department for Work and Pensions will only consider compulsory redundancies when absolutely necessary. However where redundancies are deemed necessary the department will fund outplacement support for staff affected and is currently working with external partners regarding this provision. As we are currently in negotiation with the providers we are not able to divulge outplacement costs at this stage as this would be to provide contractual information prior to the contract being signed.
	I hope this is helpful.

Gangmasters/Employment Agencies

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has access to the data collated from the ACU1 forms, ACU2 forms and 46ACU forms that are returned to the Inland Revenue Agricultural Compliance Unit by those using the services of a gangmaster or employment agency.

Chris Pond: DWP has access to the data collated on forms ACU1, ACU2 and 46ACU through Section 109 of the Social Security Act 1992 when the documents are held at a place of work and through Section 122 of the Social Security Act 1992 when the documents are held by the Inland Revenue.

Gas Installers Qualifications

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what training opportunities are available for older workers who wish to retrain to achieve Council for Registered Gas Installers qualifications; and how local information on access to those opportunities can be obtained.

Jane Kennedy: Training opportunities may be available through Ambition:Energy which is a national pilot programme aimed at addressing skill shortages in the energy sector, whilst providing quality job opportunities for unemployed or inactive people aged 18 and over. Ambition:Energy recently won a prestigious National Training Award for the partnership between Jobcentre Plus and Energy and Utility Skills.
	Ambition:Energy offers training to NVQ level 2 in Domestic Gas Installation and Maintenance, which enables the qualification holder to become CORGI registered. The training comprises 27 weeks' technical and lifeskills training plus work experience with a potential employer, while the individual remains on benefit plus a training allowance. Participants also receive driving tuition, if required. Once in employment, participants complete a further eight weeks' training and assessment to achieve the full NVQ2, normally within the first six months.
	Although Ambition:Energy is a national programme, courses are only run where employer commitment to real jobs has been clearly defined. As a result, 929 people have successfully secured jobs as domestic gas installers (69 per cent. of those starting the programme) and 89 per cent. remain in employment for at least six months.
	When employer engagement has been defined, intensive advertising is undertaken in the recruitment area through the Jobcentre Plus network. This involves a combination of Jobcentre Plus Adviser awareness activities, publicity materials and engagement with outreach organisations.

Housing Benefit

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken to process housing benefit claims was in each local authority in each of the last two years.

Chris Pond: Since September 2002, DWP has published a range of performance indicators showing the speed and accuracy for all local authorities in the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit. The statistics are published on the DWP website on a quarterly basis at www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/hb_ctb/performance.asp and are also available in the Library.
	The publication of the fourth quarter's data of 200304 on 24 June 2004 provided the final audited figures for 200203, and un-audited annual figures for 200304.

Housing Benefit

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of housing benefit claims were refused in the last period for which figures are available.

Chris Pond: In 200304 the percentage of housing benefit claims that were refused was 11.8 per cent. This figure is based on un-audited data provided to the Department by local authorities on a quarterly basis.

Incapacity Benefit

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of those claiming incapacity benefit also received (a) income support and (b) disability premiums in each year since 1997; and if he will estimate the cost of income support and disability premium payments to incapacity benefit claimants in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: holding answer 21 October 2004
	The information is in the tables.
	
		Working age claimants of Incapacity Benefit (IB), Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA), or National Insurance credits only (Credits only)
		
			  All claimants of IB/SDA/Credits only Claimants of IB/SDA/Credits only with Income Support Percentage of all IB/SDA/Credits only claimants Claimants of IB/SDA/Credits only with Income Support disability premium Percentage of all IB/SDA/Credits only claimants 
		
		
			 May 1997 2,522.4 1,030.8 40.9 720.4 28.6 
			 May 1998 2,534.9 1,071.5 42.3 776.2 30.6 
			 May 1999 2,558.0 1,110.7 43.4 813.4 31.8 
			 May 2000 2,584.4 1,157.5 44.8 860.8 33.3 
			 May 2001 2,652.1 1,224.7 46.2 915.6 34.5 
			 May 2002 2,655.0 1,237.7 46.6 960.9 36.2 
			 May 2003 2,669.0 1,273.8 47.7 991.8 37.2 
			 May 2004 2,665.0 1,269.5 47.6 1,003.4 37.6 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and shown in thousands.
	2. Working age claimants are men aged 1664 and women aged 1659.
	3. Numbers are taken from a 5 per cent. sample and are subject to a degree of sampling error.
	4. Working age client group dataset excludes a small number of Incapacity Benefit (IB) claimants who are over State Pension Age (SPA), and Income Support claimants above SPA (whether or not they have a partner under SPA).
	5. Figures cover individuals claiming both IB/SDA and IS. There will be some additional cases where a person claims IB/SDA with their partner claiming IS on behalf of the benefit unit. The number of such cases is unknown.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, 5 per cent. samples
	
		Income support paid to people receiving Incapacity Benefit payments
		
			  Nominal terms  million Real terms  million, 200405 
			  With or without a disability premium With a disability premium With or without a disability premium With a disability premium 
		
		
			 199798 501 300 594 356 
			 199899 511 325 589 374 
			 19992000 529 341 597 385 
			 200001 577 376 643 419 
			 200102 694 457 754 497 
			 200203 677 467 712 491 
			 200304 745 514 762 526 
			 200405 714 500 714 500 
			 Income Support paid to people receiving Incapacity Benefit credits 
			 199798 2,230 1,633 2,643 1,936 
			 199899 2,446 1,852 2,818 2,134 
			 19992000 2,708 2,074 3,054 2,339 
			 200001 2,979 2,319 3,321 2,585 
			 200102 3,338 2,621 3,628 2,849 
			 200203 3,541 2,851 3,724 2,998 
			 200304 3,843 3,119 3,932 3,191 
			 200405 3,999 3,289 3,999 3,289 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures show total cost of Income Support paid to Incapacity Benefit recipients, and people receiving National Insurance Credits on grounds of incapacity, whether they receive a Disability Premium in Income Support or not, and separately, spending only for those that receive a Disability Premium. Spending on the latter group is a subset of the expenditure on the former group.
	2. Figures are estimates based on a 5 per cent. sample of the caseload, taken in February, May, August and November each year. They have been calculated by multiplying weekly average amounts for each group by the caseload in each group. This figure was multiplied by 52 to give an estimate of annual costs.

Incapacity Benefit

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which medical services that receive referrals from Jobcentre Plus with reference to incapacity benefit have since appointment (a) hit and (b) missed their 32 working-day target by which they aim to complete their part of the examination process.

Maria Eagle: The current target of an Average Actual Clearance Time (AACT) of 32 working days for ATOS Origin Medical Services to complete their part of the incapacity benefit examination process has been in place since April 2003. The target is measured in each of the three contract package areas.
	The level of achievement against the target up to the end of September 2004 is in the table.
	
		
			  Contract package area Number of months where target was achieved Number of months where target was missed 
		
		
			 North 17 1 
			 South-east 15 3 
			 South-west 15 3

Incapacity/Severe Disablement Benefit

Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in receipt of invalidity benefit prior to 12 April 1995 were transferred to incapacity benefit and have been continuously in receipt to the present date, broken down by (a) age, (b) gender, (c) region and (d) diagnosis group.

Maria Eagle: As at 31 May 2004, a total of 781,300 incapacity benefits claimants began their claim on or before 12 April 1995.
	The requested breakdown of the available information has been placed in the Library.
	Notes:
	1. The figure in the answer above has been rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. It is based on a 5 per cent. sample, and therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 3. The figure includes all those who were in receipt of invalidity benefit, sickness benefit, non-contributory invalidity pension or national insurance credits only, prior to 13 April 1995 and who have remained continuously in receipt of incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance or national insurance credits only up to 31 May 2004.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre 5 per cent. sample

Incapacity/Severe Disablement Benefit

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of administering the appeal system for incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: This is a matter for Christina Townsend, Chief Executive of the Appeals Service. She will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Norman Egan to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 1 November 2004
	The Secretary of State has asked Christina Townsend to respond to your question regarding the cost of administering the appeal system for Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance in each year since 1997. Christina is away from the office at the moment and I have been asked to reply.
	The information you have requested is only available from 2001 and is attached in the table below. Please note that we do not hold exact figures for each benefit type, so the amounts quoted are calculated on average administrative and judicial costs, including overheads.
	
		
			   million 
		
		
			 200102 8.2 
			 200203 9.5 
			 200304 11.6 
		
	
	I hope this reply is helpful.

Incapacity/Severe Disablement Benefit

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was per appellant of each hearing of an appeal against the withdrawal or denial of incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: This is a matter for Christina Townsend, Chief Executive of the Appeals Service. She will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Norman Egan to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 1 November 2004
	The Secretary of State has asked Christina Townsend to respond to your question regarding the cost per appellant of each hearing of an appeal against the withdrawal or denial of Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance in each year since 1997. Christina is away from the office at the moment and I have been asked to reply.
	The information you have requested is only available from 2001 and is attached in the table below. Please note that we do not hold exact figures for each benefit type, so the amounts quoted are calculated on average administrative and judicial costs, including overheads.
	
		
			   
		
		
			 200102 222 
			 200203 235 
			 200304 243 
		
	
	I hope this reply is helpful.

Incapacity/Severe Disablement Benefit

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance who entered paid employment in 200203 registered for the 52 week linking rule; and how many of them reclaimed benefit under the terms of the rule in the following 52 weeks, broken down by (a) age and (b) region.

Maria Eagle: The available information is in the tables.
	
		
			  Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claims terminating between 1 June 2002 and 31 May 2003 with a termination reason of 'Return to work'   Claimants returning to IB/SDA within 52 weeks 
		
		
			 Great Britain 24,500 2,700 
			 North East 1,900 (24)200 
			 North West 4,500 600 
			 Yorks and Humber 2,300 (24)300 
			 East Midlands 1,600 (24)300 
			 West Midlands 2,300 (24)200 
			 South West 1,600 (24)200 
			 East 1,500 (24)100 
			 London 1,300 (24)100 
			 South East 2,500 (24)200 
			 Scotland 2,900 (24)300 
			 Wales 2,200 (24)200 
		
	
	
		
			  IB/SDA claimants terminating between 1 June 2002 and 31 May 2003 with a termination reason of 'Return to work'  Claimants returning to IB/SDA within 52 weeks 
		
		
			 All ages 24,500 2,700 
			 Under 25 1,100 (24)100 
			 Age 2539 6,300 700 
			 Age 4049 7,500 700 
			 Age 5059 8,300 1,100 
			 Age 60 and over 1,300 (24)100 
		
	
	(24) Numbers are based on very few sample cases and will be subject to a high degree of sampling variation. These figures should be used as a guide to the current situation only.
	Notes:
	1. Figures are based on 5 per cent. samples, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	3. Incapacity benefit claimants include those getting national insurance credits only.
	4. Claimants do not need to register for the 52 week linking rule, it is applied automatically.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, 5 per cent. Samples.

Job Centres

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which job centres are to be closed in north Wales; which job centres will remain open; and what the timescale is for those remaining open to become Jobcentre Plus.

Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from David Anderson to Chris Ruane, dated 1 November 2004
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions concerning the closure of Jobcentres in North Wales. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The Jobcentre Plus District of Wrexham and North Wales Coast covers the four counties of Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire and Conwy. Under the current Service Delivery Plan, the new Jobcentre Plus integrated service should be delivered from the following locations:
	Colwyn Bay
	Rhyl
	Flint
	Wrexham (Ty Maelor, Grosvenor Road)
	Llandudno
	Mold
	Connah's Quay
	All offices scheduled under the current plan to deliver this service will be fully converted by the end of March 2006. The work will be phased to minimise the disruption to our customers whilst the conversion work is undertaken.
	The following Jobcentre sites will remain open until the sites delivering the new service have been fully enhanced and Flexible Service Delivery is in operation across the four counties:
	Conwy
	Prestatyn
	Holywell
	Cefn Mawr
	Llanrwst
	Denbigh
	Llangollen.
	These seven offices will then close.
	The Jobcentre Plus District of North West Wales and Powys covers the three counties of Ynys Mon, Gwynedd and Powys. This District already delivers the new integrated Jobcentre Plus service from offices in the following locations:
	Amlwch
	Bangor
	Brecon
	Caernarfon
	Dolgellau
	Holyhead
	Llandrindod Wells
	Llangefni
	Machynlleth
	Newtown
	Porthmadog
	Pwllheli
	Welshpool
	Ystradgynlais
	In addition Flexible Service Delivery operates in the following locations:
	Barmouth
	Beamaris
	Blaenau Ffestiniog
	Builth Wells
	Knighton
	Penygroes
	Tywyn
	I hope this is helpful.

Jobcentre Plus

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to increase awareness of the Jobcentre Plus Customers Charter among (a) customers and (b) staff; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps he will take to (a) improve the quality and volume of information on benefit entitlements available to customers in relation to Jobcentre Plus, (b) provide an improved telephone service and (c) improve staff attitudes; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if he will make a statement on the Jobcentre Plus National Customer Satisfaction Survey 2004.

Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Mr. David Anderson to Mr Paul Holmes, dated 1 November 2004
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply direct to your questions about increasing awareness of the Customers' Charter amongst customers and staff; about the steps being taken to improve the quality and volume of information on benefit entitlements available to customers, providing an improved telephone service and improving staff attitudes and about the National Customer Satisfaction Survey 2004. These are matters which fall within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The current Customers' Charter was developed before the launch of Jobcentre Plus and involved consultation with customers, their representative groups and our staff. Its aim was to make clear the minimum standards of service customers could expect from the new agency.
	Awareness of the Charter is high amongst staff. However, the results of the 2003 National Satisfaction Survey showed that less than a third of customers knew about the Charter and understood its purpose. That finding was explored in greater depth in late 2003 when an independent research organisation (GHK) was commissioned to complete a review of the Charter involving customers, their representatives' groups and our staff.
	A number of recommendations were made from staff and customers about style, content and the need to raise awareness of our customer service commitments. We are considering these recommendations with a view to making changes to the existing Charter and how we communicate our service standards in 2005.
	Jobcentre Plus has robust systems and procedures in place to ensure that both written and verbal information offered to customers on benefit entitlements is accurate. In addition, Jobcentre Plus checks the accuracy of written information it provides to its customers by a 6 monthly review of the content of all leaflets about benefits and services for people of working age. This forms part of an agreement made with the Secretary of State each year.
	In April 2004, we conducted research into our customers' requirements of information on work and benefits. As a result of these findings the existing leaflets for working age customers are being replaced with a new range of products, restructured to better meet customer requirements and fit into Jobcentre Plus' business processes. We anticipate that the new leaflets will become available on a rolling basis during 2005.
	We have also changed the way we provide information and guidance to our own staff in order to ensure that it is accurate and up to date. We have implemented an electronically based system which all staff can access through their desk top PCs. The guidance is centrally maintained to ensure currency and accuracy and it is structured to provide links to learning material and other relevant guidance.
	Jobcentre Plus is establishing a network of modern contact centres to answer calls from customers about claims to benefit and looking for work. When the network is complete, access to Jobcentre Plus by telephone will be simpler and more straightforward.
	We are committed to ensuring our staff have the appropriate skills and professional approach when dealing with our customers. We have a range of learning products available on areas such as customer service, equal opportunities, interviewing and communication skills.
	Furthermore, we expect managers to play an important part in ensuring that correct attitudes and behaviours are displayed by observing and giving feedback as part of their role. In support of this activity, we are developing a Quality Assurance Framework which defines our customer service standards and the behaviours which support them. This product will be available in early 2005 and will help managers work with their staff to identify levels of attainment and on-going learning needs.
	The first National Customer Satisfaction Survey was published in September 2003 and acts as a baseline measure against which subsequent surveys can be measured. The Surveys seek to determine customers' levels of satisfaction with the delivery of customer service standards as described in the Customers' Charter.
	The 2004 National Customer Satisfaction Survey was undertaken by the Policy Research Institute (PRI), Leeds Metropolitan University. The research showed that overall level of satisfaction with the customer service provided is high, with 80% of respondents reported being very or fairly satisfied with the standard of service they received.
	The findings in 2004 are consistent with the 2003 baseline results with improvements showing in a number of areas of service. These include the proportion of customers considering staff attitudes as a reason for complaining which has fallen from 26% in 2003 to 19% in 2004.
	We also asked respondents whether they thought service had improved, stayed the same or deteriorated in the past 12 months. 24% felt it had improved, while 69% felt it had stayed the same.
	While we are encouraged by these findings, we recognise the importance of continually improving customer service and, in relation to the service standards in the Charter, will continue to focus on improving the ability of staff to determine the needs of customers and provide relevant and appropriate information.

Jobcentre Plus

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on training provisions for Jobcentre Plus staff.

Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Mr. David Anderson to Mr. Paul Holmes, 1 November 2004
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning the training provision available for Jobcentre Plus staff. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Jobcentre Plus is committed to the training and development of its entire staff and is an accredited Investor in People.
	We provide an extensive range of training provision (over 300 learning products) and delivered over 600,000 learning days during 2003/04, which focused on the knowledge, skills and attitude required to enable our staff to effectively support our customers.
	Line Managers play a key role in identifying learning needs through our performance and development system and in supporting the individual to build the knowledge and skills they need.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many incorrect payments of jobseeker's allowance were made in each month of the last three years, broken down by (a) age, (b) ethnicity and (c) gender; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Pond: Incorrect payments include both overpayments and underpayments which occur as a result of fraud, customer error and official error. Jobseeker's allowance is paid fortnightly and the following figures therefore refer to fortnightly payments.
	In 200102, we estimate that 3.4 million incorrect JSA payments were made to claimants. The equivalent figure for 200203 was 3.2 million. Figures for 200304 are not yet available.
	No breakdown is available by month, age, ethnicity or gender.

Pension Credit

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will disregard war disablement pension payments when calculating pension credit; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: War pensions act as an income replacement. Totally ignoring them would mean that income from a war pension would be paid in addition to the guarantee and any savings credit. Consequently, people with a war pension would be treated much more generously under pension credit than other pensioners.
	We already recognise the special nature of war pensions and disregard the first 10 of a war pension. Also war pensions are treated as qualifying income for the savings credit so are rewardable under pension credit. We believe that war pensioners should receive this generous treatment in view of service they have given.

Tsar Appointments

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many tsars have been appointed with responsibilities which cover part of the work of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: The Department has not appointed any tsars. No other appointees who cover part of the work of the Department bear that title.

Welfare to Work Programme

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have left the New Deal for Young People to enter the Welfare to Work Programme (a) after claiming jobseeker's allowance for six months or more and (b) after claiming jobseeker's allowance for less than six months because they have (i) a physical disability, (ii) a learning disability and (iii) been advised to by a personal adviser, in each year for which the information is available.

Jane Kennedy: The available information is in the table.
	
		New Deal for Young People (NDYP)
		
			 Period Total starts to the programme Of which, claimed jobseeker's allowance for six months or more at start date Of which, claimed jobseeker's allowance for less than six months at start date Of those claiming jobseeker's allowance for less than six months at NDYP start date, number self-recorded as disabled 
		
		
			 January to December 1998 212,930 180,870 32,060 8,110 
			 January to December 1999 192,290 159,100 33,190 6,350 
			 January to December 2000 174,770 146,620 28,150 5,280 
			 January to December 2001 162,700 134,550 28,150 4,940 
			 January to December 2002 164,220 131,420 32,800 5,620 
			 January to December 2003 171,890 136,850 35,040 6,100 
			 January to June 2004 85,190 68,440 16,750 3,070 
			 Total 1,163,990 957,850 206,140 39,470 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data is for total rather than individual starts to the programme and could include people who have started the programme more than once.
	2. Information is not available on whether participants have a physical or learning disability, only on whether they self-record as having a disability.
	3. Information is not available on whether participants entering the programme before they have claimed jobseeker's allowance for less than six months have done so on the advice of a personal adviser.
	4. Latest information is to June 2004.
	5. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	Source:
	DWP Information and Analysis Directorate

Work Preparation Programmes

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have entered (a) an Access to Work programme, (b) a Work Preparation programme and (c) Workstep in each year since 2001, broken down by (i) region and (ii) age.

Maria Eagle: The available information is in the tables.
	
		Number of new Access to Work Beneficiaries
		
			 Region 200203 200304 Total 
		
		
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1,478 2,354 3,832 
			 North East 954 750 1,704 
			 North West 1,686 1,637 3,323 
			 Scotland 1,704 1,475 3,179 
			 Wales 1,004 973 1,977 
			 West Midlands 1,492 1,279 2,771 
			 East Midlands 663 1,699 2,362 
			 East of England 753 967 1,720 
			 South West 986 1,695 2,681 
			 London 2,568 1,058 3,626 
			 South East 1,911 1,546 3,457 
			 Total 15,199 15,433 43,769 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Information is not available broken down by age.
	2. Information is not available broken down by region prior to 2002.The total figures for 200102 were 13,137.
	Source:
	Disability Rehabilitation Division
	
		Number entering the Work Preparation programme
		
			 Region 200203 200304 
		
		
			 North West 900 357 
			 Northern 890 418 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1,249 1,236 
			 East Midlands 509 471 
			 West Midlands 498 556 
			 South West 816 1,023 
			 London 576 460 
			 Wales 1,187 1,290 
			 Scotland 484 648 
			 East of England  330 
			 South East  575 
			 Totals 7,109 7,364 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. East of England and South East regions did not have Work Preparation contracts in 200203.
	2. Figures are not available broken down by region prior to 2002. The total numbers for 200102 were 7,679.
	3. Information is not available broken down by age.
	Source:
	Disability and Rehabilitation Division
	
		Number of people starting work through WORKSTEP (including Remploy)
		
			 Age Bands Total job starts 
		
		
			 200102  
			 1625 961 
			 2635 1,028 
			 3645 670 
			 4665 730 
			 Total 3,389 
			 200203  
			 1625 1,035 
			 2635 879 
			 3645 703 
			 4665 702 
			 Total 3,319 
			 200304  
			 1625 922 
			 2635 795 
			 3645 732 
			 4665 734 
			 Total 3,183 
		
	
	Note:
	Information is not available broken down by region.
	Source:
	Disability and Rehabilitation Division

CABINET OFFICE

Members' Allowances

Annette Brooke: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office on what basis (a) honourable Members are paid at the rate of 57.7 pence per mile and (b) civil servants are paid at a rate of 25 pence per mile for car use.

Ruth Kelly: For hon. Members, the rates of motor mileage allowance were set in 1996 to reflect motoring costs and have been uprated each year by Retail Price Index (RPI). In common with employees in all sectors, they pay income tax and national insurance on the excess over the Inland Revenue approved rate.
	For civil servants, the setting of motor mileage allowances has been delegated to Departments since 1993, so rates will vary.

Strategy and Delivery Units

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will list the (a) public and (b) private reports the Strategy Unit produced in each of the last two years.

Alan Milburn: The Strategy Unit undertakes a range of projects. The majority culminate in a published report; the remainder are presented as confidential advice to Ministers.
	The following is a list of published reports and publications since the Strategy Unit was created in June 2002.
	2004
	London Project Report
	Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People: Interim Analytical Report
	Designing a Demonstration Project: An Employment Retention and Advancement
	Demonstration for Great Britainsecond edition
	Life Chances and Social Mobility: An Overview of the Evidence (pdf, 289kb)
	Net Benefits: A sustainable and profitable future for UK Fishing
	Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England
	Personal Responsibility and Changing Behaviour: the state of knowledge and its implications for public policy (pdf, 352kb)
	Managing Offenders, Reducing Crime
	2003
	Trying It OutThe Role of 'Pilots' in Policy-Making
	Strategic Audit: Discussion Document
	Large Scale Social Experimentation in Britain: What Can and Cannot be Learnt from the Employment Retention and Advancement Demonstration
	Innovation in the Public Sector
	Quality in Qualitative Evaluation: A framework for assessing research evidence
	Alcohol Misuse: Interim Analytical Report
	Field Work: Weighing up the Costs and Benefits of GM Crops
	Designing a Demonstration Project
	Ethnic Minorities and the Labour Market
	2002
	Life Satisfaction: the state of knowledge and implications for Government
	Assessment of Technological Options to Address Climate Change
	Game Plan: a strategy for delivering Government's sport and physical activity objectives
	Electronic Networks: Challenges for the Next Decade
	Satisfaction With Public Services
	High Performing CitiesFuture Challenges
	Waste Not, Want Not Report
	Risk: Improving Government's capability to handle risk and uncertainty
	In Demand Adult skills in the 21st centurypart 2
	Delivering for Children and Families
	Private Action, Public Benefit
	Creating Public Value
	Geographic Mobility
	Copies are available in the Library and are also on the Strategy Unit website at www.strategy.gov.uk

Strategy and Delivery Units

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of the Strategy Unit's budget was spent on (a) public and (b) private reports in each of the last two years.

Alan Milburn: The total Strategy Unit budget for 200304 was 4.7 million. Disproportionate costs would be incurred in calculating the proportion of the Strategy Unit budget spent on public and private reports.

Strategy and Delivery Units

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 4 October 2004, Official Report, columns 186364W, who financed the Strategy Unit report on drug supply.

Alan Milburn: The report on drugs was financed by the Cabinet Office.

Ministerial Expenses

Mark Prisk: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much the Department spent on (a) maintenance, (b) renovation, (c) council tax and (d) running costs of residential properties used by Ministers and officials in each year since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: Admiralty House contains residential accommodation for Ministers and the occupying Departments are responsible for relevant costs associated with each of the residential flats. No Cabinet Office Ministers are currently accommodated in Admiralty House. The Cabinet Office is responsible for costs associated with the common parts, as well as for maintaining the fabric of the entire building.
	The Cabinet Office's share of the maintenance costs of Admiralty House for 200304 was 12,237.
	No major refurbishment work was undertaken in 200304.
	The Cabinet Office's share of the running costs of Admiralty House (i.e. excluding the appropriate share of the costs from the occupying Departments) for 200304 was 383,109. For information, I refer the hon. Member to the response given on 19 November 2003, Official Report, column 879W.
	Information about the costs of official residences used by Ministers for previous financial years is already in the public domain.
	During 200304, three Cabinet Office officials were occupying accommodation in residential properties in the grounds of the Emergency Planning College in Easingwold. The number of properties varied from month to month. One flat was occupied by an official working at the Emergency Planning College on detached duty. The other occupants paid a market rent for the properties, established by independent valuers appointed by the Office of Government Commerce. Records are not held separately of the maintenance, renovation and running costs associated with these properties in particular and these costs could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The council tax for 200304 associated with the property occupied by the individual on detached duty was approximately 205.
	Since 13 May 2002, when the Cabinet Office entered into a PPP contract with Initial Style Conferences Limited (ISC) for the latter to provide a range of services at the Centre for Management Policy Studies College at Sunningdale, the Department has incurred no costs in providing residential properties to Ministers or officials.

Parliamentary Questions

Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he will reply to the question tabled by the hon. Member for New Forest, East for named day reply on 25 October 2004, ref.193672.

Alan Milburn: I replied to the hon. Member on 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1053W.

Theft and Fraud

Mark Prisk: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what her estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) her Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: The cost of theft and fraud to the Department, its agencies, and non-departmental public bodies, in each of the last seven financial years are shown in the following table.
	
		000
		
			  Department Agencies NDPBs Total 
		
		
			 199798 15 0 0 15 
			 199899 48 0 1 48 
			 19992000 32 0 0 32 
			 200001 34 0 1 34 
			 200102 35 0 1 35 
			 200203 12 0 0 12 
			 200304 0 0 0 0

HEALTH

Drug Rehabilitation

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of progress in reducing waiting times for drug rehabilitation assistance in (a) south Somerset and (b) Somerset; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The National Treatment Agency (NTA) set national waiting time targets for drug treatment services in December 2001. The average waiting time figures for Somerset in December 2001, the current waiting times and the national waiting time targets set for April 2004 are shown in the table. Data on waiting times is only routinely collected at drug action team (DAT) level, so I am not able to provide specific data in relation to south Somerset.
	
		Waiting time in weeks
		
			 Modality December 2001 NTA national waiting time targetApril 2004 September 2004 
		
		
			 Inpatient treatment 13 2 0 
			 Residential rehabilitation 6 3 6 
			 Specialist prescribing 21 3 6 
			 General practitioner prescribing 13 2 3 
			 Day care (25) 3 (25) 
			 Structured counselling 8 2 2 
		
	
	(25) Not available. Somerset does not have structured day care services available.
	The work of the NTA South West regional team to reduce waiting times has included:
	An improvement programme put in place this year has produced more effective and robust partnership structures to drive forward reduction of waiting times and other improvements in treatment.
	Agencies who are partners in Somerset DAT have plans in place to develop a new structured day programme in order to provide problem drug users resident in Somerset with access to the full range of treatment modalities in the county.

Drug Rehabilitation

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the waiting time between assessment and prescribing for people wanting help to avoid reliance on illegal drugs in Yeovil constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: Waiting time figures are only available at drug action team (DAT) level, so I am not able to provide specific data in relation to Yeovil.
	However, the latest average waiting times in Somerset, of which Yeovil is a part for specialist and general practitioner prescribing services, is shown in the table. For comparison, I have shown the latest figures against the average waiting times in December 2001, when the National Treatment Agency (NTA) set national waiting time targets for drugs treatment services, which are also shown.
	The data shown is in terms of weeks.
	
		
			  Modality 
			  Specialist prescribing GP prescribing 
		
		
			 December 2001 21 13 
			 NTA national waiting time target April  2004 3 2 
			 September 2004 6 3

Air Ambulances

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is provided to NHS trusts on the use of air ambulances.

Rosie Winterton: Air ambulances are provided through charitable organisations.
	The Department informed ambulance services and their commissioners in January 2002 that the cost of clinical staff on air ambulances should from 1 April 2002 be met by the national health service on a continuing basis.
	The Department has issued guidance on Use of military helicopters by the NHS [HSG(97)33] and this is available on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/LettersAnd Circulars/HealthServiceGuidelines/HealthService GuidelinesArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4018355chk= eziOGO.

NHS Staff (Assaults)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many members of staff working in accident and emergency departments in hospitals in the Greater London area have been assaulted by members of the general public during the last 12 months.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is collected at national health service organisation level, rather than for individual accident and emergency departments. Information on the number of reported violent incidents against NHS staff for the NHS organisations within the five London strategic health authority areas for 200203 is shown in the table.
	
		Reported violent incidents against NHS staff in London 200203
		
			   Number 
		
		
			 London Strategic health authority (SHA) or NHS trust 15,421 
			 Q04 North West London SHA 3,308 
			 Q05 North Central London SHA 2,531 
			 Q06 North East London SHA 1,811 
			 Q07 South East London SHA 3,424 
			 Q08 South West London SHA 2,136 
			 RRU London Ambulance Service NHS Trust 2,211 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are the total of all violent incidents reported by organisations within the London SHAs and London Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
	2. London Ambulance Service NHS Trust cannot be assigned to a particular SHA.
	Source:
	Department of Health Survey of Violence, Accidents and Harassment 200203.

Back Pain

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the total public expenditure resulting from back pain in each of the last five years.

Stephen Ladyman: No estimate has been made.

Care Homes

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been on the waiting list for care homes in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear and (d) England in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Carers

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) carers and (b) young carers of school age there are in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham.

Stephen Ladyman: The numbers of carers of all ages in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham, as recorded in the 2001 Census, are shown in the table.
	
		Table population: All people in householdsGeographical level Barking and Dagenham
		
			 All people Total Provides no care Provides care: one to 19 hours Provides care: 20 to 49 hours Provides care: 50 or more hours 
		
		
			 Age 162,713 146,824 9,356 2,136 4,397 
			 0 to 4 12,530 12,530
			 5 to 7 7,467 7,447 17  3 
			 8 to 9 4,978 4,919 47 6 6 
			 10 to 11 4,748 4,671 58 9 10 
			 12 to 14 6,359 6,199 127 13 20 
			 15 2,241 2,155 66 11 9 
			 16 to 17 4,432 4,211 175 34 12 
			 18 to 19 4,079 3,847 170 39 23 
			 20 to 24 10,284 9,633 474 99 78 
			 25 to 34 26,008 23,637 1,487 310 574 
			 35 to 44 24,376 21,070 2,050 472 784 
			 45 to 49 9,017 7,348 1,103 217 349 
			 50 to 54 9,339 7,435 1,160 282 462 
			 55 to 59 7,171 5,688 877 207 399 
			 60 to 64 6,141 5,113 535 142 351 
			 65 to 74 12,043 10,335 721 189 798 
			 75 to 84 8,912 8,071 284 93 464 
			 85 to 89 1,789 1,726 5 13 45 
			 90 and over 799 789   10 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The term unpaid care covers any unpaid help; looking after or supporting family members; friends; neighbours or others because of long-term physical or mental ill-health or disability or problems related to old age.
	2. Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data.
	Source:
	2001 CensusOffice for National Statistics (ONS) table S025Sex and age by general health and provision of unpaid care.

Consultant Waiting Times

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time is in hospitals within the Greater London area for a person referred by a general practitioner to see a hospital consultant.

Stephen Ladyman: Information requested for the five London strategic health authorities is shown in the table.
	
		Waiting times for first consultant outpatient appointment following general practitioner referral: London strategic health authorities (SHAs)Quarter 1 200405
		
			 Strategic health authority Median waiting time (weeks) 
		
		
			 North West London 7.18 
			 North Central London 7.15 
			 North East London 7.51 
			 South East London 7.28 
			 South West London 6.63 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health form QM08.

Dementia

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people living in Greater London have dementia; and how many of them are over the age of 65.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is not held centrally.

Dementia

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) men and (b) women living in the Greater London area suffer from Alzheimer's disease.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Dentistry

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many tooth extractions under general anaesthetic were carried out on children aged under 10 years in the last two years in each strategic health authority in England.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 20 October 2004
	The latest information available is shown in the table.
	
		Main Operation (OPCS-4 Operative procedure code F09 or F10) tooth extractions -- Count of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) by strategic health authority (SHA) of residenceAge at start of episode = 09NHS hospitals, England 200102 and 200203
		
			   Finished consultant episodes 
			  SHA of Residence 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Q01 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire HA 867 820 
			 Q02 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire HA 546 536 
			 Q03 Essex HA 706 960 
			 Q04 North West London HA 863 956 
			 Q05 North Central London HA 473 568 
			 Q06 North East London HA 1,386 1,473 
			 Q07 South East London HA 1,493 1,380 
			 Q08 South West London HA 1,237 1,261 
			 Q09 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear HA 1,157 861 
			 Q10 County Durham and Tees Valley HA 509 577 
			 Q11 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire HA 654 542 
			 Q12 West Yorkshire HA 1,833 1,790 
			 Q13 Cumbria and Lancashire HA 2,448 2,548 
			 Q14 Greater Manchester HA 3,456 3,424 
			 Q15 Cheshire and Merseyside HA 948 1,049 
			 Q16 Thames Valley HA 340 383 
			 Q17 Hampshire and Isle Of Wight HA 874 723 
			 Q18 Kent and Medway HA 401 615 
			 Q19 Surrey and Sussex HA 1,206 1,052 
			 Q20 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire HA 2,013 2,431 
			 Q21 South West Peninsula HA 2,072 2,257 
			 Q22 Dorset and Somerset HA 903 978 
			 Q23 South Yorkshire HA 2,541 2,646 
			 Q24 Trent HA 1,357 1,644 
			 Q25 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland HA 620 428 
			 Q26 Shropshire and Staffordshire HA 220 172 
			 Q27 Birmingham and the Black Country HA 913 683 
			 Q28 Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire HA 379 137 
			 S Scotland 2 5 
			 U Englandnot otherwise specified 2 17 
			 W Wales 32 25 
			 X Foreign (Including Isle of Man and Channel Islands) 11 14 
			 Y Not known 86 72 
			  England, NHS Hospitals 32,548 33,027 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.
	2. Figures are grossed for both coverage and missing/invalid clinical data, except for 200203, which are not yet adjusted for shortfalls.
	3. The main operation is the first recorded operation in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details, eg. time waited, but the figures for all operations count of episodes give a more complete count of episodes with an operation.
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

Dentistry

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average annual payment made by the NHS to a dentist working full-time and with a wholly NHS patient list was in the last year for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: Information from which we could exclude national health service dentists with mixed private and NHS practices is not routinely available. In the year 200304, dentists with a significant NHS commitment received average gross income including payments such as seniority and commitment payments of about 150,000 in England and Wales. Gross payments to a dentist cover both net income to the dentist and the dentist's expenses.

Foundation Trusts

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been undertaken by his Department to monitor progress in setting up (a) foundation hospitals and (b) foundation boards.

John Hutton: The process of setting up national health service foundation trusts is set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2003. In summary, applicant NHS trusts must first obtain the Secretary of State's approval to submit an application to Monitor (whose statutory name is the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts). To obtain this, applicants must demonstrate their suitability to go forward to be considered by Monitor by submitting their proposed human resources strategy, a service development strategy and their proposed governance arrangements (on which they must hold public consultation on their proposals).
	Applicants that are successful can then apply to Monitor, which is responsible for authorising applications for NHS foundation trust status. As part of the authorisation process, Monitor must satisfy itself about an applicant's preparedness and viability and be satisfied that applicants have met the statutory requirements set out in the Act. Details of Monitor's requirements are outlined in its Guide to Applicants, which is published on its website at www.nhsft-regulator.gov.uk. Once authorised, it is the responsibility of Monitor to oversee the operation of NHS foundation trusts and to ensure they remain within their terms of authorisation and legislative framework.

Gender Dysphoria

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 20 October 2004, Official Report, column 791W, on gender dysphoria, if he will make it his policy to collect centrally the average waiting times for a first appointment at each gender identity clinic for people suffering from gender dysphoria.

Rosie Winterton: The Department collects data on waiting times by consultant-led specialty. We have no plans to collect data by sub-specialty.

Health Services (York)

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent jobs (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies had in (i) Yorkshire and the Humber and (ii) the City of York in (A) 1997 and (B) the latest year for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: The information available is shown in the table. We do not hold any specific information about the number of posts in the City of York as our data are collected by Government region.
	
		
			  April 
			 Elsewhere in Yorkshire and Humberside 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 COREDH (26) (26) (26) (26) 929.5 896 918.2 868.3 
			 Medicines Control Agency (MCA) (26) (26) (26) (26) 0 5.2 4.2 (27) 
			 Medical Devices Agency (MDA) (26) (26) (26) (26) 0 0 0 5.7 
			 NHS Estates (26) (26) (26) (26) 93.4 107.5 97.2 108.9 
			 NHS Pensions Agency (26) (26) (26) (26) 0 0 0 0 
			 NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (26) (26) (26) (26) 43.5 52.7 57.5 58.3 
			 Departmental total 1,035 961 1,127 1,040 1,066.4 1,061.4 1,077.1 1,041.2 
		
	
	(26) No data held.
	(27) As one below MCA and MDA.

Hospital Infections

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the trusts which require consultation as a mandatory step between infection control teams and contract tendering procedures for (a) new build projects, (b) cleaning, (c) laundry services and (d) catering services.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not available.
	All national health service trusts are required to appoint a director of infection prevention and control to take an active role in ensuring infection control issues are taken into account when decisions are being made on the provision of these services.
	NHS Estates guidance recommends the involvement of the infection control team at all stages of the planning, design and construction of buildings, and the provision of non-clinical support services, to address infection control risks.

Hospital Trusts

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures are in place to ensure that evidence given by a hospital trust is accurate; and what action he can take against hospital trusts who submit inaccurate and misleading information.

Melanie Johnson: We expect all national health service trusts to act with probity and integrity in their conduct. In this, NHS trusts are performance managed by strategic health authorities.
	The Code of Conduct for NHS managers was issued in October 2002 under the National Health Service Act 1977 and the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990. The code is set out as a series of principles that NHS managers will observe. This includes the principle that a manager:
	 . . . will be honest and act with integrity and probity at all times. I will not make, permit or knowingly allow to be made, any untrue or misleading statement relating to my own duties or the functions of my employer.

Medical Students (Bursaries)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why final year medical students have not yet received notification of their bursary awards.

John Hutton: holding answer 28 October 2004
	Students are usually notified at the time a final decision on their award is made. Currently, the NHS Pensions Agency grants unit has finalised the awards for 3,474 new medical and dental students. Due to constraints within the existing computer system, students whose academic year began before 1 September 2004 have not yet received notification, although payment has been made where appropriate. Action is in hand to improve the system.

Mental Health Services

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what public spending on mental health services was per head of population in England in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: Information on expenditure by the national health service on mental health services per head of population in England in each of the last five years is shown in table 1, which employs the hospital and community health service deflator. Table 2 provides the same information in cash terms. The data exclude social care spend on people with mental health problems, and expenditure concerning people treated in primary care for whom a specific diagnosis has not been reached. The figures therefore underestimate the total mental health expenditure.
	
		Table 1
		
			 Gross expenditure (volume terms) 199899 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Mental illness day patient (DP) ( million) 377 372 369 330 344 
			 Mental health in-patient (IP) ( million) 2,157 2,319 2,507 2,532 2,689 
			 Mental health out-patient (OP) ( million) 396 419 447 507 655 
			 Community mental illness (Ml) nursing ( million) 687 760 843 839 911 
			 Total mental health (MH) ( million) 3,617 3,870 4,166 4,208 4,598 
			 Total hospital and community health services (HCHS) ( million) 30,226 31,351 32,773 33,128 35,087 
			 Population (number) 49,586,455 49,730,320 49,871,203 50,008,548 50,142,274 
			 MH proportion (percentage) 11.97 12.34 12.71 12.70 13.11 
			 MH expenditure per head of population ( million) 72.94 77.82 83.54 84.15 91.71 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The figures are taken from the expenditure per head of population (EPHoP) analysis of healthcare spend. EPHoP measures activity from inpatients, outpatients and community based patients against expenditure taken from the hospital and community health service programme budget.
	2. The programme budget is compiled using NHS accounts: a combination of finance returns from strategic health authorities, NHS trusts, primary care trusts and the strategic health authority summarisation schedules.
	3. Activity data from a range of sources, for example hospital episode statistics, Krner community returns, the Living in Britain survey, etc. are used to distribute the expenditure figures for each sector (i.e. mental health, acute services, etc.) proportionally across the whole population.
	4. Using the combination of expenditure and activity figures, the treatment cost is for each person within each age group and for each type of activity is calculated.
	
		Table 2
		
			 Gross expenditure (cash terms) 199899 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Mental illness DP ( million) 318 328 338 318 344 
			 Mental health IP ( million) 1,819 2,044 2,303 2,444 2,689 
			 Mental health OP ( million) 334 370 411 490 655 
			 Community Ml nursing ( million) 580 670 775 810 911 
			 Total MH ( million) 3,051 3,411 3,826 4,062 4,598 
			 Total HCHS ( million) 25,494 27,633 30,099 31,977 35,087 
			 Population (number) 49,586,455 49,730,320 49,871,203 50,008,548 50,142,274 
			 MH proportion (percentage) 11.97 12.34 12.71 12.70 13.11 
			 MH expenditure per head of population ( million) 61.52 68.59 76.73 81.23 91.71 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The figures are taken from the expenditure per head of population (EPHoP) analysis of healthcare spend. EPHoP measures activity from inpatients, outpatients and community based patients against expenditure taken from the hospital and community health service programme budget.
	2. The programme budget is compiled using NHS accounts: a combination of finance returns from strategic health authorities, NHS trusts, primary care trusts and the strategic health authority summarisation schedules.
	3. Activity data from a range of sources, for example hospital episode statistics, Krner community returns, the Living in Britain survey, etc. are used to distribute the expenditure figures for each sector (i.e. mental health, acute services, etc.) proportionally across the whole population.
	4. Using the combination of expenditure and activity figures, the treatment cost is for each person within each age group and for each type of activity is calculated.

Mesothelioma

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what Government funding has been provided for research into mesothelioma in the last 10 years; and what funding is available over the next five.

Melanie Johnson: The NHS Plan announced that the Department would provide an additional 20 million per year to establish a national cancer research network. The National Cancer Research Network (NCRN) and the National Translational Cancer Research Network were established as a result. The NCRN is currently providing national health service infrastructure support for four mesothelioma studies. These are:
	the MS01 trial (jointly funded by cancer charities, the British Thoracic Society and a pharmaceutical company)a trial of chemotherapy for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma;
	the MALCS study (funded by the Health and Safety Executive)a population based case-control study of mesothelioma and lung cancer in relation to occupation in British men and women under the age of 6O;
	the MARS (Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery) study (funded by Cancer Research UK and the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund). This is a pilot study to determine the feasibility and acceptability of performing a randomised trial comparing extra-pleural pneumonectomy (EPP) against no EPP surgery within the context of trimodality therapy (chemotherapy, surgery, post-operative radiotherapy);
	the VATS study (funded by the BUPA Foundation)a prospective randomised controlled trial of video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) cytoreductive pleurectomy compared to talc pleurodesis in patients with suspected or proven malignant mesothelioma.
	No other information is available to the Department on research into mesothelioma showing Government funding support.

Out-of-Hours Services

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent guidance his Department has issued to primary care services with regard to out-of-hours services; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: On 14 October, we published the Government's response to the Health Committee Report on general practitioner out-of-hours services (Cm 6352).
	On the same day, we launched the New Quality Requirements in the Delivery of Out-of-Hours Services and commentary. These standards ensure that out-of-hours care, wherever provided, is delivered to a consistently high standard. The requirements come into force from 1 January 2005, replacing the current national quality standards, which have been in force since November 2002.
	The new requirements will ensure that if patients need to access care out-of-hours, they can be confident that, wherever they live, they will receive high quality care, responsive to their needs.

Ovarian Tissue Transplantation

Mohammad Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on ovarian tissue transplantation.

Melanie Johnson: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) published, in February 2004, a clinical guideline for the national health service on the assessment and treatment for people with fertility problems. Part 1.15 of the guideline, covering applications of cryopreservation in cancer treatment, says:
	Women preparing for medical treatment that is likely to make them infertile should be offered oocyte or embryo cryostorage as appropriate if they are well enough to undergo ovarian stimulation and egg collection, provided that this will not worsen their condition and provided that sufficient time is available. They should be informed that oocyte cryostorage has very limited success and that the cryopreservation of ovarian tissue is still in an early stage of development.
	A recent report from the United States of America mentioned a patient who apparently has had a successful ovarian transplantation involving her sister as a donor. We note that the British Fertility Society regards this procedure as an interesting development that must be viewed as experimental, probably applicable only to an exceptionally small number of patients.

Over-30 Month Cattle Scheme

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what work the Food Standards Agency is conducting on the over-30 month cattle scheme safely.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is already published on the Food Standards Agency's website at http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2004/sep/boardupdateseptember2004.

Paediatric Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doctors there were in the NHS in England working in paediatric specialities in each year since 1992, broken down by (a) speciality and (b) grade, expressed as a (i) whole-time equivalent and (ii) headcount figure.

John Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Hospital, Public Health Medicine and Community Health Services (HCHS): medical staff within the Paediatrics Group of specialties by grade and year
		
			  Number (headcount) and whole-time equivalent (wte) 
			  1992 1993 1994 1995 
			 England as at 30 September each year No. wte No. wte No. wte No. wte 
		
		
			 Paediatric Group 2,819 2,559 3,106 2,833 3,350 3,070 3,892 3,551 
			 of which: 
			 Consultant 854 782 932 856 1,009 915 1,103 1,008 
			 Associate Specialist/Staff Grade 35 29 56 49 92 81 296 224 
			 Registrar Group 573 520 641 579 721 659 763 705 
			 Senior House Officer 1,202 1,187 1,325 1,309 1,386 1,374 1,571 1,557 
			 House Officer 8 8 5 5 8 8 14 14 
			 Hospital Practitioner/ Clinical Assistant 145 33 147 36 134 32 144 41 
			 Other Hospital 2 0 - - - - 1 1 
			 Other CHS - - - - - - - - 
			 of which: 
			 Paediatric cardiology - - - - - - - - 
			 of which: 
			 Consultant - - - - - - - - 
			 Associate Specialist/Staff Grade - - - - - - - - 
			 Registrar Group - - - - - - - - 
			 Senior House Officer - - - - - - - - 
			 House Officer - - - - - - - - 
			 Hospital Practitioner/Clinical Assistant - - - - - - - - 
			 Other Hospital - - - - - - - - 
			 Other CHS - - - - - - - - 
			 Paediatrics 2,819 2,559 3,106 2,833 3,350 3,070 3,892 3,551 
			 of which: 
			 Consultant 854 782 932 856 1,009 915 1,103 1,008 
			 Associate Specialist/Staff Grade 35 29 56 49 92 81 296 224 
			 Registrar Group 573 520 641 579 721 659 763 705 
			 Senior House Officer 1,202 1,187 1,325 1,309 1,386 1,374 1,571 1,557 
			 House Officer 8 8 5 5 8 8 14 14 
			 Hospital Practitioner/ Clinical Assistant 145 33 147 36 134 32 144 41 
			 Other Hospital 2 0 - - - - 1 1 
			 Other CHS - - - - - - - - 
		
	
	
		
			  1996 1997 1998 1999 
			  No. wte No. wte No. wte No. wte 
		
		
			 Paediatric Group 4,011 3,680 4,344 4,018 4,542 4,196 4,750 4,365 
			 of which: 
			 Consultant 1,156 1,063 1,227 1,130 1,299 1,192 1,355 1,246 
			 Associate Specialist Staff Grade 342 269 341 274 411 339 458 374 
			 Registrar Group 762 710 913 859 1,016 955 1,103 1,028 
			 Senior House Officer 1,605 1,586 1,717 1,699 1,678 1,651 1,699 1,651 
			 House Officer 14 14 18 18 26 26 36 36 
			 Hospital Practitioner/Clinical Assistant 132 38 126 37 112 33 99 31 
			 Other Hospital - - 2 2 - - - - 
			 Other CHS - - - - - - - - 
			 of which: 
			 Paediatric cardiology 39 38 39 37 55 53 52 49 
			 of which: 
			 Consultant 13 13 16 16 17 17 18 17 
			 Associate Specialist/Staff Grade - - - - - - - - 
			 Registrar Group 13 13 13 13 21 21 21 20 
			 Senior House Officer 12 12 9 9 17 16 10 10 
			 House Officer - - - - - - - - 
			 Hospital Practitioner/Clinical Assistant 1 0 1 0 - - 1 0 
			 Other Hospital - - - - - - - - 
			 Other CHS - - - - - - - - 
			 Paediatrics 3,972 3,643 4,305 3,981 4,487 4,142 4,698 4,316 
			 of which: 
			 Consultant 1,143 1,051 1,211 1,115 1,282 1,176 1,337 1,229 
			 Associate Specialist/Staff Grade 342 269 341 274 411 339 456 372 
			 Registrar Group 749 697 900 846 995 935 1,082 1,008 
			 Senior House Officer 1,593 1,574 1,708 1,690 1,661 1,634 1,689 1,642 
			 House Officer 14 14 18 18 26 26 36 36 
			 Hospital Practitioner/Clinical Assistant 131 38 125 37 112 33 98 31 
			 Other Hospital - - 2 2 - - - - 
			 Other CHS - - - - - - - - 
		
	
	
		
			  2000 2001 2002 2003 
			  No. wte No wte No. wte No. wte 
		
		
			 Paediatric Group 5,027 4,590 5,127 4,645 5,608 5,155 5,960 5,516 
			 of which: 
			 Consultant 1,443 1,307 1,507 1,332 1,695 1,538 1,807 1,641 
			 Associate Specialist Staff Grade 560 437 602 478 673 581 736 638 
			 Registrar Group 1,146 1,055 1,107 1,019 1,166 1,074 1,226 1,149 
			 Senior House Officer 1,747 1,722 1,727 1,700 1,832 1,799 1,963 1,933 
			 House Officer 43 43 41 41 51 51 69 69 
			 Hospital Practitioner/Clinical Assistant 88 25 86 31 85 29 70 18 
			 Other Hospital - - - - - - - - 
			 Other CHS - - - - - - - - 
			 of which: 
			 Paediatric cardiology 51 49 68 65 115 108 110 102 
			 of which: 
			 Consultant 23 22 29 27 64 58 69 61 
			 Associate Specialist/Staff Grade - - - - - - - - 
			 Registrar Group 19 19 18 17 31 29 21 21 
			 Senior House Officer 8 8 9 9 0 20 20 20 
			 House Officer - - 2 2 - - - - 
			 Hospital Practitioner/Clinical Assistant 1 0 - - - - - - 
			 Other Hospital - - - - - - - - 
			 Other CHS - - - - - - - - 
			 Paediatrics 4,976 4,541 5,059 4,581 5,493 5,048 5,850 5,414 
			 of which: 
			 Consultant 1,420 1,285 1,478 1,304 1,631 1,480 1,738 1,581 
			 Associate Specialist/ Staff Grade 560 437 602 478 673 581 736 638 
			 Registrar Group 1,127 1,036 1,089 1,002 1,135 1,045 1,205 1,128 
			 Senior House Officer 1,739 1,714 1,708 1,681 1,812 1,779 1,943 1,913 
			 House Officer 43 43 39 39 51 51 69 69 
			 Hospital Practitioner/Clinical Assistant 87 25 86 31 85 29 70 18 
			 Other Hospital - - - - - - - - 
			 Other CHS - - 57 45 106 83 89 67 
		
	
	Notes:
	'' denotes zero
	'0' denotes less than one, more than zero
	Figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number
	Source:
	Department of Health medical and dental workforce census.

Depression

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he collects on the proportion of pain sufferers who are diagnosed with depression.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not centrally available.

Prescription Charges

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the expected total income from prescription charges in real terms in (a) 200506, (b) 200607, (c) 200708, (d) 200809 and (e) 200910.

Rosie Winterton: The expected total income from prescription charges for the years specified, are shown in the table.
	
		
			   million 
		
		
			 200506 467 
			 200607 482 
			 200708 499 
			 200809 517 
			 200910 534 
		
	
	The figures are forecasts and as such will be subject to change.

Processed Food (Salt)

Debra Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with the major supermarkets on salt in food since the 18 September deadline for supermarkets to improve their salt reduction action plans.

Melanie Johnson: The Department and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are currently analysing responses received from the food industry in response to the 18 September deadline. The Department and the FSA will consider what further action needs to be taken when the analysis has been completed.

Public Health Bodies

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 13 September 2004, Official Report, column 14701471W, on public health bodies, what the expected timetable is for the budget allocation process.

Rosie Winterton: An implementation framework, setting out the timetable and process for agreeing arm's length body budgets over the spending review period, will be published shortly.

Queen's Ambulance Medal

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the first Queen's Ambulance Medal to be announced; and what steps are being taken to ensure that its existence is widely known.

Rosie Winterton: We are currently reviewing the process and timetable for introducing the proposed Queen's Ambulance Service Medal while we take into account the conclusions of the current Honours review. We hope to confirm the way forward shortly.

Radiographers

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the vacancy (a) rate and (b) number of radiographers in the NHS was in (i) England and (ii) each strategic health authority in each year since 1997.

John Hutton: Information on the number and rate of vacancies lasting three months or more for radiographers in each year since 1999, the first year vacancy information was collected centrally, by health authority until 2001 and by strategic health authority since 2001, has been placed in the Library.
	The rate of vacancies lasting three months or more for diagnostic radiographers has fallen from 6.1 per cent., to 4.8 per cent., for diagnostic radiographers and from 10.7 per cent., to 8.8 per cent., in between March 2003 and March 2004.
	The fall in vacancy rates for radiographers reverses the trend of increasing vacancies and reflects the Government's successes in increasing both the national health service radiography workforce and also the numbers of students entering training to become radiographers.

Refugee Doctors

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of trained refugee doctors in England who are not working in the NHS; and what estimate he has made of the average cost of retraining a refugee doctor to work in the NHS.

John Hutton: This information requested is not held centrally.
	The British Medical Association (BMA) holds a database to monitor the number of refugee doctors in the United Kingdom. Of the 1,001 doctors registered on the database:
	69 have secured posts in the national health service.
	126 have passed Part II of the General Medical Council's (GMC) Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) examination.
	94 have passed Part I of the PLAB examination.
	The majority of the rest are either studying for PLAB Part I or developing their English language skills in preparation for the CMC's English language tests.
	The cost of any retraining a doctor may need may vary on an individual basis. Most of the doctors registered on the BMA database need only to pass the CMC's PLAB exam in order to be eligible to apply for jobs and thereby qualify for limited registration with the GMC.

Rural Proofing

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what work his Department carries out for the rural proofing of NHS targets.

Melanie Johnson: National health service targets include minimum guarantees on access to services which everyone, both in rural areas and elsewhere, can expect. Primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for ensuring that NHS trusts meet national standards and targets. The reduction in national targets gives PCTs the flexibility to develop local services, including those in rural areas, to meet the particular needs of their communities.

Smart and Biometric Cards

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the likely number of (a) smart card and (b) biometric card readers which will be needed in hospitals and general practitioner surgeries in the next 10 years.

John Hutton: The number of smart card readers eventually needed for use across the national health service will depend on the nature and number of functions for which smart cards technology is required and the pace at which it is developed and implemented. The costs and benefits of a smart card are currently being assessed. There are no current plans to place biometric data on smart cards, but the use of biometrics is an option which is being studied for use in the longer term.

Transplantation

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with the Unrelated Live Transplant Regulatory Authority regarding live unrelated (a) altruistic and (b) paired donations for transplantation.

Rosie Winterton: The Unrelated Live Transplant Regulatory Authority (ULTRA) has kept the Department fully informed of all discussions regarding the issue of live unrelated altruistic and paired donation. The last ULTRA meeting was held on 5 October 2004.

Transport (North Yorkshire)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action is being taken by primary care trusts to improve transport links to healthcare facilities in North Yorkshire.

Melanie Johnson: The four primary care trusts (PCTs) in North Yorkshire are working to improve transport links to healthcare facilities. They are working in partnership with the Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance National Health Service Trust (TENYAS) to review current patient transport services to ensure that patients' transport needs are met. The PCTs are also working with local authorities, the voluntary sector and transport providers to ensure access to healthcare facilities.

Wheelchairs

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what information the Wheelchair Services Collaborative holds on waiting times for assessment and delivery of wheelchairs;
	(2)  which wheelchair services participate in the Wheelchair Services Collaborative;
	(3)  what waiting times apply to the North Staffordshire Wheelchair Service; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: Figures on waiting times for people requiring wheelchairs are not collected centrally. The information may be available from the 151 national health service wheelchair services, which actually arrange for the provision of wheelchairs in England. 45 centres participated in the wheelchair services collaborative, which ran until June 2004. The services that participated were:
	
		
			 Wheelchair service Organisation 
		
		
			 Bexhill and Rother Wheelchair Service Bexhill and Rother Primary Care Trust (PCT) 
			 The Wirral Wheelchair Assessment Centre Birkenhead and Wallasey PCT 
			 Wheelchair Service Brent PCT 
			 Bromley Wheelchair Service Bromley PCT 
			 South East Staffordshire Wheelchair Service Burntwood, Litchfield and Tamworth PCT, South Staffordshire Healthcare NHS Trust 
			 Chantry Wheelchair Services Central Suffolk PCT 
			 Southern Derbyshire Wheelchair Service Derbyshire Dales and South Derbyshire PCT 
			 Wheelchair Services Doncaster East PCT 
			 South Durham Wheelchair Service Durham and Chester Le-Street PCT 
			 Enfield Wheelchair Service Enfield PCT 
			 Haringey Wheelchair Service Haringey Teaching PCT 
			 Hillingdon Wheelchair Service Hillingdon PCT 
			 Occupational Therapy and Wheelchair Services Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Trust 
			 The Wheelchair Service King's Lynn and Wisebech Hospitals NHS Trust 
			 Leeds Wheelchair Service Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust 
			 North Essex Wheelchair Services Maldon and South Chelmsford PCT, Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust 
			 Wheelchair Services Milton Keynes PCT 
			 Disablement Services Centre North Bristol NHS Trust 
			 North Cumbria Wheelchair Service North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 
			 Wheelchair Centre North Lincolnshire Primary Care NHS Trust 
			 North West Surrey Wheelchair Service North Surrey PCT 
			 Harrow Wheelchair Service North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 
			 Occupational Therapy and Wheelchair Services Northamptonshire Heartlands PCT 
			 Oxford Centre for Enablement Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust 
			 Wheelchair Assessment Centre, Thameside General Hospital Oldham PCT/Thameside and Glossop 
			 Wheelchair Service and Community Equipment Service Redditch and Bromsgrove NHS PCT 
			 Exeter Mobility Centre Royal Devon and Exeter Healthcare NHS Trust 
			 Wheelchair Service Sedgefield PCT 
			 Birmingham Wheelchair Service South Birmingham PCT 
			 Sussex Rehabilitation Centre South Downs NHS Trust 
			 South Tyneside (Healthcare NHS Trust) Wheelchair Services South Tyneside PCT 
			 South Warwickshire PCT South Warwickshire PCT 
			 Wheelchair Services Sussex Downs and Weald PCT 
			 Shropshire Wheelchair Service Telford and Wrekin NHS PCT 
			 Liverpool Wheelchair Service The Royal Liverpool and NHS Broadgreen University Hospitals 
			 Tower Hamlets Wheelchair Service Tower Hamlets NHS PCT 
			 Wheelchair Service at the Rehabilitation Centre United Lincoln Hospitals NHS Trust 
			 Leicestershire Wheelchair Service University Hospital of Leicester NHS Trust 
			 Wheelchair Services Walsall PCT 
			 Wheelchair Service Wandsworth NHS PCT 
			 West Dorset Wheelchair Service North Dorset PCT 
			 The Wheelchair Service West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust (Medway PCT, Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley PCT)